LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 
CARROLL  PURSELL 


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CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 


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LIFE  AND  POEMS 


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OF 


Clarissa  Tucker  Tracy 


BY 

ADA  CLARK  MERRELL,  M.  A. 


CHICAGO 

R.  R.  DONNELLEY  &  SONS  COMPANY 

1908 


4- 


Copyright,  1908 

BY 

ADA  CLARK  MERRELL,  M.  A. 


. 


MRS.   EUGENIE   MANVILLE   McKNIGHT 


THIS  BOOK  IS  INSCRIBED 
TO 

MRS.  EUGENIE  MANVILLE  McKNIGHT 

IN  LOVING  MEMORY  OF  HER  FIDELITY  AS  A  STUDENT,  AND 

IN  RECOGNITION  OF  THE  BEAUTY  OF  HER  LIFE, 

AND  OF  HER  FOND  MINISTRIES  TO  KINDRED,  FRIENDS  AND  NEIGHBORS; 

A  WOMAN  OF  RARE  PURITY,  SYMMETRY 

AND  STRENGTH  OF  CHARACTER, 

WHO  KNEW  SO  WELL  THE  SECRET  OF  DOING   GRACIOUSLY 

AND  SWEETLY  THE  MANIFOLD  "  LITTLE  KINDNESSES 

WHICH  MOST  LEAVE  UNDONE  OR  DESPISE." 


TO   MRS.   C.   T.   TRACY 

1818-1898 

To  honor  goodness  is  to  honor  thee; 

To  honor  virtue  is  to  bow  the  knee 

To  the  sweet  graces  of  thy  inner  heart, 

And  seek  to  share  in  them  some  humble  part. 

We  love  thee  for  thy  kind  and  gracious  mien, 
For  truth  which  sets  its  seal  upon  thy  brow  serene; 
For  kindly  deeds  thy  willing  hands  have  wrought, 
For  words  of  wisdom  full  of  Christly  thought; 
For  all  thy  smiles, —  yea,  all  thy  blessed  tears, 
For  both  reveal  a  heart  unchanged  by  years. 

Blest  gift  of  years,  be  they  fourscore  or  more, 
If  filled  with  blessings  from  God's  boundless  store; 
Thy  life,  my  friend,  has  earned  this  tribute  sweet, 
By  ministries  of  love,  so  constant,  wise,  and  meet. 

Could  I  but  crown  thee  at  this  natal  time, 
My  coronet  would  not  with  earthly  jewels  shine; 
But  heavenly  pearls  of  mercy,  truth,  and  love 
Would  glisten  on  thy  brow  like  stars  above. 

May  He  who  notes  the  tiny  sparrow's  fall, 
And  ne'er  forgets  a  service  great  or  small, 
Fill  thy  last  years  with  peace  and  golden  light, 
Foretaste  of  the  eternal  years'  delight. 

Mary  Spencer  Thayer. 
Clifton  Springs,  N.  Y. 
November  12.  1898. 


CONTENTS 
PART  I 

THE  LIFE  OF  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

PAGE 

I.     In  Days  o'  Lang  Syne 19 

Poem  —  Voices  from  the  Past. 

II.     Young  Womanhood, 26 

Poem  —  In  Fancy's  World. 

III.  Joy  and  Sorrow, 32 

An  Interesting  Incident. 

Poems  —  A  Husband's  Prayer  in  Absence. 

The  Sufferer. 

The  Death-bed  Scene. 

IV.  A  Momentous  Decision 44 

Poem  —  My  Ebenezer. 

A  Child  of  Prayer. 

Poem  and  Letter  to  her  Son  Horace  on  his  Tenth 

Birthday. 
Mrs.  Tracy  in  Neenah. 

V.     Mrs.  Tracy  in  College  Pioneering 54 

Appreciations  by  Dr.  William  Hayes  Ward  and  Dr. 
Lyman  B.  Sperry. 

VI.     Mrs.  Tracy  as  I  Knew  Her 61 

Reminiscences  of  Some  of  Her  Students. 
Poem  —  My  Dear  Old  Boys  and  Girls. 

VII.     In  her  Declining  Years 77 

An  Epitaph. 

VIII.     In  her  Official  Relation  to  Ripon  College 85 

Obituary,  Funeral  Services,  Resolutions,  and  Testi- 
monials. 

9 


10  CONTENTS 


PART  II 

POEMS   AND    PROSE   ARTICLES    BY   CLARISSA   TUCKER 

TRACY 
POEMS  — 

1.  How  Much  Owest  Thou  my  Lord? 101 

2.  I  Ask  my  Secret  Soul 103 

3.  Musings 104 

4.  Day  by  Day 104 

5.  The  Grace  of  God 105 

6.  It  is  the  Lord 106 

7.  Doubt  and  Faith 107 

8.  Lenten  Musings 108 

9.  The  Heavenly  Guest 110 

10.  Somewhere Ill 

11.  Rejoice,  Rejoice 112 

12.  Children  of  Light 113 

13.  In  Memoriam 114 

14.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  H.  Dixon 115 

15.  To  Rev.  L.  J.  White 116 

16.  To  Science  and  Educational  Clubs 117 

PROSE  COMPOSITIONS  — 

1.  The  Sisterhood  of  Widows 119 

2.  The  Ministry  of  Sorrow 120 

3.  It  is  Curious  Who  Give 124 


APPENDIX 

1.  Sketch  of  Mrs.  Eugenie  Manville  McKnight 131 

2.  Genealogy  of  the  Harris  Family 132 

3.  Harris  Family  Song 134 

4.  Stephen  Tucker 135 

5.  The  Tracy  Ancestry 136 


CONTENTS  11 

6.  Dr.  James  Horace  Tracy 137 

7.  Anniversaries 138 

8.  Poems  to  Mrs.  Tracy 141 

9.  Edward  Rowland  Sill 142 

10.  Incident  of  the  Flag 143 

1 1 .  Joe  Smith 144 

12.  Bible  Class  in  Neenah " 146 

13.  Anecdotes  of  Mrs.  Tracy 146 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Mrs.  C.  T.  Tracy Frontispiece 

Mrs.  Eugenie  Manville  McKnight 5 

The  Old  Home  in  Jackson,  Pa 22 

Mr.  Stephen  Tucker 28 

Horace  Hyde  Tracy 32 

Clarissa  Aurelia  Tracy 36 

Mrs.  Lucy  Harris  Tucker 46 

James  Horace  Tracy 50 

Clarissa  Tucker  Tracy 54 

Middle  College  in  the  Sixties 58 

Middle  College  in  the  Eighties 70 

Brockway  College 86 


13 


PREFACE 

Three  or  four  years  before  Mrs.  Tracy  died,  one  day 
when  we  were  having  one  of  our  good  old-time  visits  at  her 
home,  she  said  to  me  suddenly  in  her  quick,  crisp  way: 
"Mrs.  Merrell,  I  want  you  to  write  my  biography.  I  know 
my  old  boys  and  girls  will  want  to  have  it."  She  took  me 
so  completely  by  surprise,  that  before  I  could  gather  my 
wits  together  to  make  a  fitting  reply,  she  went  on  briskly: 
"I  don't  want  you  to  write  it  before  I  go.  After  I  leave 
will  be  time  enough.  All  my  papers  are  in  this  drawer 
here,  and  you  are  to  take  possession  of  them  as  soon  as  I 
am  done  with  them."  It  is  singular  that  she  never  referred 
to  her  death  but  in  terms  like  the  above,  and  rarely  even 
in  this  way. 

Realizing  that  whatever  must  be  done  must  needs  be 
done  quickly,  I  persuaded  her  to  let  me  take  possession 
of  the  most  important  of  the  papers  at  once.  These  were 
manuscript  copies  of  her  poems,  some  prose  articles,  and 
a  simple,  direct,  but  somewhat  meager  autobiography, 
prepared  for  the  Educational  Club  in  the  eighties.  At 
my  suggestion,  she  wrote  out  more  fully  the  story  of  how 
she  came  to  Ripon  College,  and  in  various  interviews  re- 
viewed the  events  of  her  life,  telling  me  one  thing  and 
another  that  helped  to,  throw  brighter  light  on  the  past. 
All  these  have  been  woven  into  the  biography,  together 
with  the  hints  and  side-lights  derived  from  the  chronicles 
of  Susquehanna  County,  Pennsylvania,  the  official  records 
of  Ripon  College,  the  odds  and  ends  of  newspaper  clippings 
found  among  Mrs.  Tracy's  papers,  and  the  letters  of  loving 

15 


16  PREFACE 

and  appreciative  friends  and  relatives  who  had  some  in- 
teresting thing  to  tell  about  her. 

To  all  such,  who  in  any  way  assisted  me,  I  return  most 
sincere  thanks.  I  trust  that  Mrs.  Tracy's  belief  that  her  old 
boys  and  girls  really  wanted  to  have  the  story  of  her  life 
may  be  justified,  and  that  the  present  volume  will  but 
endear  her  the  more  to  them,  and  help  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  a  life  that  was  full  of  poise  and  sweetness. 

Ada  Clark  Merrell. 
302  Elm  Street,  Ripon,  Wisconsin, 
February  24,  1908. 


PART   I 
THE  LIFE  OF  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 


IN   DAYS   0'   LANG  SYNE 

"  The  common  unrhymed  poetry 

Of  simple  life  and  country  ways." 

Footsore  and  weary,  there  arrived,  December  20,  1814, 
at  the  little  clearing  of  Harmony  (afterward  Jackson),  in 
Susquehanna  County,  Pennsylvania,  two  sturdy  young 
Green  Mountain  boys,  Stephen  Tucker,  just  twenty-one, 
and  Joseph  Bryant,  a  youth  of  eighteen.  They  had  walked 
the  entire  distance  from  their  home  near  Halifax,  Wind- 
ham County,  Vermont,  to  this  settlement  in  the  forest 
primeval.  The  place  was  an  almost  unbroken  wilderness, 
with  no  township  name,  no  roads  nearer  than  two  or 
three  miles  from  their  chosen  homes,  but  it  reminded 
them  of  their  native  state.  Here,  too,  were  a  few  of  their 
friends  from  Vermont,  who  came  in  1812,  and  by  1813  had 
commenced  the  permanent  settlement  of  the  place,  build- 
ing their  houses  for  the  most  part  of  logs,  as  there  was  no 
sawmill  within  many  miles.  These  few  were  followed 
later,  in  1828,  by  about  forty  families  more  from  Vermont, 
so  that  though  there  were  a  few  New  Hampshire  and 
other  Yankee  settlers,  the  clearing  was  known  as  the 
Vermont  Settlement,  and  as  early  as  1817  was  thus  desig- 
nated on  the  court  records,  when  the  road  was  laid  out 
to  it  from  Ararat,  then,  too,  only  a  settlement. 

All  came  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  what  was  then  liter- 
ally  the  Wild  West,  and,  aside  from  household  furnishings 

19 


20  CLARISSA   TUCKER    TRACY 

in  plenty,  had  little  else  than  their  stout  hearts  and  strong 
right  arms.  But  "a  man  was  famous  according  as  he  had 
lifted  up  axes  upon  the  thick  trees" ;  and  Stephen  Tucker 
was  not  lacking  in  valor  and  brawn,  and  lifted  up  his  axe 
to  such  good  purpose  that  after  a  year  or  two  he  had 
cleared  his  lot  and  built  a  plain  but  comfortable  log  house, 
and  was  able  to  return  to  Vermont,  in  the  winter  of  1816, 
with  some  of  the  other  unmarried  men,  for  "the  girls  they 
had  left  behind  them." 

His  sweetheart,  Lucy  Harris,  of  Halifax,  Vermont, 
was  a  fit  mate  for  the  sturdy  young  pioneer,  and  they  were 
married  February  4,  1816.  Returning  later  to  Jackson, 
Pennsylvania,  the  summer  found  them  comfortably  settled 
in  their  life  home.  Mrs.  Tucker  brought  a  plentiful  supply 
of  beds,  bedding,  and  household  furniture  from  her  New 
England  home,  and  cheerfully  entered  upon  her  duties  as 
mistress  of  the  family  in  the  commodious  log  house.  Life 
was  begun  in  rather  a  primitive  style,  but  the  other  young 
men  and  their  brides  were  commencing  life  under  the  same 
conditions;  and  as  all  possessed  the  New  England  habits 
of  thrift,  industry,  and  moral  integrity,  and  all  worked 
harmoniously  to  develop  their  farms  and  establish  good 
society,  the  results  were  most  happy.  They  tasted  the 
joys  as  well  as  the  hardships  of  the  pioneer,  and  there  was 
something  of  exhilaration  in  the  experience. 

In  the  course  of  the  year,  a  little  son  came  to  the  Tucker 
household,  and  nineteen  months  later  Clarissa  Tucker 
was  born,  November  12,  1818.  She  heralded  her  own 
advent  much  the  same  as  other  children,  but  according  to 
testimony  from  her  mother,  she  "continued  heralding  it 
for  several  weeks  after";  and  it  startles  one  to  think  how, 
as  a  little  pebble  hurled  into  the  stream  throws  out  wider 
and  ever  widening  circles,  this  little  life  was  destined  to 
make  ever-widening  circles  of  influence  whose  bounds  shall 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  21 

be  limited  only  by  eternity.  In  this  little  home  of  hard, 
unremitting  toil  were  acquired  those  sterling  virtues  which 
made  Mrs.  Tracy  such  a  power  for  good  in  later  life.  It  was 
a  busy  little  household,  and  the  little  Clarissa  entered  early, 
not  only  upon  her  educational  career,  but  also  upon  duties 
of  large  responsibility.  We  see  the  independent  little 
maiden  of  three  and  a  half  years  trudging  "to  the  little 
frame  school-house  on  the  hill,  half  a  mile  beyond  the 
corners,"  for  by  this  time  roads  had  been  built  in  every 
direction  through  the  town.  Sometimes,  in  a  spirit  of 
adventure,  the  children  took  a  shorter  route  by  crossing 
a  log  fallen  over  a  creek. 

This  school  was  taught  by  Evalina  Spoor,  a  beautiful 
young  lady  whom  Clarissa  did  not  see  again  after  the  close 
of  the  term  till  several  years  had  elapsed,  and  she  herself 
was  a  schoolma'am,  at  fourteen,  in  the  neighborhood  of  her 
former  teacher,  now  a  sedate  matron. 

The  fair  Evalina  was  still  a  beautiful  woman,  and 
greeted  her  former  pupil  with  all  the  warmth  of  a  dear 
friend,  and  sent  her  five  children  to  school  to  her.  Of  her 
first  school  days,  Mrs.  Tracy  once  said  in  her  own  charac- 
teristic way:  "I  have  only  two  memories  that  are  distinct 
of  this  first  school  which  I  attended.  One  memory  of 
seeing  daily  a  penny  suspended  from  the  back  of  the 
teacher's  chair  by  a  string  passing  through  a  hole  in  the 
penny.  At  close  of  the  school,  this  was  placed  around  the 
neck  of  the  one  at  the  head  of  the  spelling  class.  The  other 
memory  was  of  a  little  book  about  four  by  three  inches, 
containing  several  little  hymns,  or  verses,  given  me  by  the 
teacher  on  the  last  day  of  school.  One  of  the  hymns  was 
that  familiar  classic,  'How  doth  the  little  busy  bee/  and  so 
forth.  I  committed  this  to  memory  on  my  way  home, 
and  recited  it  to  my  mother,  and  for  several  days  was  called 
upon  to  repeat  it  for  admiring  friends  who  called  at  the 


22  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

house.     The  school  was  only  of  three  months'  duration, 
but  I  had  learned  to  read  and  to  spell  very  well." 

Clarissa  continued  to  attend  school  summer  and  winter 
until  she  was  ten  years  old,  then  only  in  the  winter,  as  she 
was  needed  to  assist  in  the  housework.  Everywhere  in  the 
little  settlement,  work  indoors  and  out  was  the  order  of  the 
day.  To  the  sound  of  the  axe  and  the  crash  of  the  falling 
trees  outside,  the  buzzing  of  the  spinning-wheel  and  the 
rattling  of  the  looms  indoors  kept  busy  accompaniment. 
As  all  the  flax  and  wool  that  could  be  raised  had  to  be 
worked  up  into  cloth  before  even  homespun  garments 
could  be  made,  it  is  not  strange  that  before  she  was  ten 
even,  Clarissa  had  learned  to  knit,  sew,  and  spin  a  little. 
She  knew  how  to  pick  geese  too,  and,  as  she  grew  older, 
learned  how  to  bake  and  brew,  "dip"  candles,  and  do  all 
the  multitudinous  things  which  the  pioneer  woman  had  to 
do  to  wrest  material  in  the  raw  from  nature.  But  the 
most  stable  business  of  the  little  maid  was  tending  babies, 
for  by  this  time  there  were  four  younger  than  herself. 
How  she  did  it  is  best  told  in  her  own  words: 

"I  took  care  of  the  babies  most  of  the  time  by  taking  them  into 
the  woods,  still  near  the  house,  or  to  feed  the  chickens  and  goslings, 
or  to  hunt  hens'  eggs,  while  my  charge  was  safely  placed  on  a  pile 
of  hay.  In  the  springtime  I  spent  merry  days  in  the  sugar-camp 
with  my  father  or  brother,  and  there  began  my  study  of  botany, 
as  wild  flowers  were  abundant  before  the  sugar  season  was  over. 

"At  this  time  occurred  a  very  important  event  in  our  home  life. 
In  1829  my  father  had  built  a  large  frame  house,  into  which  we 
moved.  One  of  the  saddest  memories  of  my  childhood  is  that  of 
the  day  we  bade  adieu  to  the  old  log  house,  hallowed  by  a  mother's 
love  and  devotion,  by  a  father's  prayers  and  wise  counsels.  Dear 
to  my  childish  heart  were  the  old  clock  with  the  weight  descending 
to  the  floor,  the  old  trundle-bed,  where  in  our  earliest  years  we  rM- 
dren  slept  under  mother's  watchful  eye,  and  later  the  chamber  par- 
titioned off  by  blankets  and  coverlets  of  bright  colors,  more  wonder- 
ful to  me  than  any  Gobelin  tapestry  ever  could  be.     But  most  of 


'"S    GO 

Q 
O 

W 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  23 

all,  sacred  for  the  memory  of  a  little  brother,  who  scarcely  opened 
his  eyes  upon  this  world,  and  whom  I  only  saw  robed  for  the  grave. 
It  was  the  first  event  which  brought  to  me  with  thrilling  power  the 
thought  that  a  time  would  come  when  I  too  would  be  laid  away  in 
the  silence  and  darkness,  and  that  'all  who  breathe  would  share  my 
destiny. '  The  tender  prayer  of  my  father,  close  by  the  bedside  of 
my  mother,  when  we  gathered,  on  the  morning  the  little  one  was 
laid  away,  led  my  thoughts  up  to  God  in  prayer  that  I  might  be 
prepared  for  this  great  change  that  must  come  to  all." 

Other  precious  memories  clustered  around  the  little 
old  log  house,  memories  of  beautiful  times  around  the  big, 
open  fireplace,  when  father  and  mother  and  all  the  little 

ones 

"Sat  the  clean-winged  hearth  about," 

and  stories  of  "ye  olden  tymes,"  the  feats  of  David  Bryant, 
the  mighty  hunter  of  the  settlement,  and  stirring  poems 
recited,  quickened  the  blood  and  kindled  the  eye;  doubtless, 
too,  as  in  the  Whittier  home, 

"Between  the  andirons'  straddling  feet, 
The  mug  of  cider  simmered  slow, 
The  apples  sputtered  in  a  row, 
And  close  at  hand  the  basket  stood, 
With  nuts  from  brown  October's  wood." 

Oft  while  her  mother 

"Turned  her  wheel 
Or  run  the  new-knit  stocking  heel," 

Clarissa  read  aloud  tales  stranger  and  more  wondrous  than 
than  any  fiction,  from  the  Missionary  Herald,  or  listened 
while  her  mother  told  the  stories  of  consecration  and  self- 
denial  of  those  early  missionaries  of  the  cross,  Adoniram 
Judson,  Harriet  Atwood  Newell,  and  others,  whose  names 
are  now  household  words. 

Burned  deep  into  the  heart  of  the  young  child  was  that 
scene  by  the  firelight,  when  her  brother  James  experienced 


24  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

a  remarkable  conversion,  when  they  two  were  left  alone  to 
guard  the  little  ones  safely  tucked  away  in  the  old  trundle- 
bed,  while  the  folks  had  gone  to  meeting.  Two  awe- 
struck little  souls,  pressed  down  by  the  heavy  conviction 
of  sin,  and  trembling  in  fear  of  an  angry  God,  two  little 
children  down  on  their  knees  pleading  the  precious  prom- 
ises, and  then  the  sudden  overwhelming  joy  of  answered 
prayer,  and  the  "old,  old  story,"  saved  by  grace. 

But  sweeter  far  was  the  picture  of  the  little  flock 
standing  nightly  with  bowed  heads,  about  the  simple 
board  reciting  in  concert,  while  the  mother  led,  a  tender 
"grace"  of  thanks, 

"Glory  to  Thee,  my  God,  this  night, 
For  aii  the  blessings  of  the  light ; 
Keep  me,  oh,  keep  me,  King  of  Kings, 
Beneath  the  shadow  of  Thy  wings. 

"Forgive  me,  Lord,  through  Thy  dear  son, 
The  ills  which  I  this  day  have  done, 
That  with  the  world,  myself,  and  Thee, 
I,  ere  I  sleep,  at  peace  may  be." 


The  following  poem  was  evidently   written   by   Mrs. 
Tracy  with  these  early  secnes  in  view.     It  was  entitled 

VOICES   FROM   THE   PAST 

How  many  voices  come  to  me, 

Sounding  across  the  vanished  years, 

Of  those  whose  forms  I  no  more  see, 
Whose  loving  presence  no  more  cheers. 

My  mother's  voice,  in  gentlest  tone, 

In  hours  of  sorrow  and  of  pain, 
Coming  with  comfort  all  its  own, 

As  sunshine  sweet  that  follows  rain. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  25 

My  father's  tender  words  of  prayer, 

Just  after  little  Willie  died, 
Committing  all  to  God's  dear  care, 

Whate'er  in  life  might  us  betide. 

The  schoolmate's  voice,  so  faint  and  low, 

Speaking  to  us  his  last  farewell, 
Saying,  "My  earthly  end  has  come,  I  know, 

But  now  with  Jesus  I  shall  dwell." 

Another  voice,  of  playmate  dear 

Who  long  has  dwelt  in  lands  afar, 
Nor  shall  her  form  to  me  appear 

Until  we  pass  through  "Gates  Ajar." 

A  voice  in  whispers,  yet  most  clear, 

Speaking  of  heavenly  visions  bright, 
And  loving  words  to  one  most  dear, 

While  earth  was  passing  from  his  sight. 

The  darling  infant's  plaintive  wail, 

When  her  brief  life  was  ebbing  fast, 
And  mother  love  could  not  avail 

As  to  the  unseen  world  she  passed. 

These  voices  come  with  healing  balm, 

For  though  they  sound  on  earth  no  more, 

They  speak  of  sweet  and  lasting  calm 
Where  cares  and  sorrows  all  are  o'er. 

And  Faith,  by  them  her  strength  renews ; 

Hope,  smiling,  shows  her  gentle  face, 
But  far  above  all  other  views, 

Is  that  of  Love's  own  crowning  grace. 


26  CLARISSA    TUCKER    TRACY 

II 

YOUNG   WOMANHOOD 

"It  is  a  great  thing  not  to  be  a  forlorn  little  wheel  that  must  be 
turned  by  hand,  but  one  geared  into  the  machinery  of  God's  eternal 
laws  of  moral  order." — Wilcox. 

The  little  town  of  Jackson  was  so  isolated  from  the 
markets  that  its  early  settlers  had  hard  work  to  make 
"both  ends  meet."  Only  one  of  their  number  had  come 
to  the  place  with  any  considerable  amount  of  silver  in  his 
pocket,  and  he  after  a  few  years  was  as  straightened  as 
the  rest.  The  land-owners  from  whom  they  bought  their 
land  had  taken  advantage  of  their  necessities  and  driven 
hard  bargains  with  them,  so  that  all  were  handicapped 
for  years  with  heavy  mortgages,  and,  according  to  the 
Susquehanna  chronicles,  most  of  the  pioneers  had  paid 
twice  over  for  their  farms  before  they  finished  the  final 
payments.  We  can  understand,  then,  why  Clarissa  Tucker 
began  to  teach  at  so  tender  an  age  as  fourteen,  and  con- 
tinued alternately  teaching  and  attending  school  for  sev- 
eral years. 

This  first  school  was  at  Jackson  Corners,  just  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  her  home,  and  she  had  thirteen  scholars. 
By  this  time,  as  she  once  naively  remarked,  she  had  made 
such  attainments  in  knowledge  that  she  could  get  nothing 
new  from  the  teachers  in  the  home  schools.  After  teach- 
ing two  more  summers,  and  a  family  school  winters,  there 
came  a  time  when  the  cherished  plan  of  her  parents  and 
the  earnest  desire  of  her  own  heart  were  fulfilled,  and  she 
was  sent  away  to  a  school  of  a  higher  grade. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  27 

In  the  town  of  Harford,  Susquehanna  County,  a  school 
of  such  grade  had  been  established  in  1817  by  the  Rev. 
Lyman  Richardson,  who  had  charge  of  it  for  ten  years. 
His  brother,  the  Rev.  Preston  Richardson,  a  graduate  of 
Hamilton  College  and  a  member  of  Auburn  Theological 
Seminary,  being  disabled  by  ill  health  from  preaching, 
desired  to  do  something  for  the  benefit  of  the  young,  so 
his  brother  resigned  in  his  favor,  and  he  was  in  charge  at 
the  time  Miss  Tucker  attended  school.  The  institution 
was  called  Franklin  Academy,  and  students  could  take 
their  studies  through  the  sophomore  year  of  a  college 
course. 

Mr.  Richardson  was  a  remarkable  man,  and  gave  a 
wonderful  stimulus  to  all  who  came  under  his  instruction. 
He  lived  only  a  short  time,  but  the  school  was  continued 
by  his  brother,  Rev.  Lyman  Richardson,  and  his  son, 
Willard  Richardson. 

Not  only  Jackson,  but  the  entire  county  of  Susque- 
hanna, was  settled  by  a  very  choice  kind  of  folks,  people 
not  alone  of  sincere  and  genuine  piety,  but  with  high  ideals, 
and  the  practical  common  sense  that  knew  how  to  attain 
results.  Miss  Tucker's  father  and  mother  were  of  this 
sort,  and  down  to  hoar  hairs  she  was  fond  of  speaking 
about  the  goodness  of  her  father  and  mother;  and  in- 
deed, she  had  reason  to,  for  Deacon  Tucker  was  widely 
known  within  the  gates.  He  was  not  only  clerk  of  the 
Baptist  Church  for  over  forty  years,  but  he  had  built  the 
church  itself,  and  raised  more  than  $1,000  in  cash  for  its 
upbuilding.  Mrs.  Tucker,  also,  bore  an  honorable  and 
useful  part  as  one  of  the  early  pioneers,  and  not  least  among 
the  useful  things  accomplished  by  father  and  mother  was 
the  hearty  support  and  sympathy  which  they  accorded 
Clarissa  in  her  aspirations.  They  believed  in  her  possi- 
bilities, and  they  helped  her  to  choose  the  best  instructors 


28  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

obtainable.  The  name  of  Richardson  represented  hon- 
ored instructors  of  the  highest  grade,  —  men  not  only  of  fine 
family,  but  of  breadth  of  culture  and  refinement  quite 
above  the  average.  Many  of  their  pupils  became  distin- 
guished in  after  years  as  ministers,  lawyers,  judges,  sena- 
tors, and  educators. 

Among  Miss  Tucker's  classmates  were  Galusha  A.  Grow, 
for  many  years  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  at  one  time  Speaker  of  the  House;  C.  R.  Buckalew, 
a  Senator  of  note;  the  Tylers,  three  of  whom  became  dis- 
tinguished educators,  and  many  others.  One  of  her  class- 
mates, the  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Dickson  of  St.  Paul,  at  one 
of  the  reunions  of  the  old  Franklin  Academy  students, 
thus  described  his  old  schoolmate:  "Miss  Tucker  was  a 
bright  and  diligent  student,  and  I  remember  admiring 
her  square,  mathematical  forehead  (school-girls  were  am- 
bitious in  those  days  to  show  all  the  forehead  they  pos- 
sessed), and  admiring  the  perfect  recitations  in  algebra 
which  it  led  one  to  expect.  I  last  saw  her  in  the  spring  of 
1842  (not  quite  fifty-five  years  ago),  presiding  at  a  colla- 
tion given  by  the  ladies  to  the  young  men  of  Honesdale, 
the  day  they  brought  trees  from  the  borders  of  the  neigh- 
boring woods  and  planted  them  in  the  then  new  Court 
House  Square.  I  was  visiting  a  relative  in  the  village  at 
the  time,  and  shared  in  the  work  and  the  rewarding  smiles 
and  bountiful  collation." 

From  1835  to  1840,  Miss  Tucker  alternately  taught  and 
attended  Franklin  Academy,  often  keeping  up  with  her 
classes,  so  that  she  took  her  place  on  her  return  to  the 
school. 

In  1840,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willard  Richardson,  two  of  the 
teachers  in  Franklin  Academy,  went  to  Honesdale,  Wayne 
County,  to  open  a  school  of  similar  grade  of  two  depart- 
ments, a  Ladies'  Seminary  on  the  second  floor,  and  the 


MR.   STEPHEN  TUCKER 
mrs.  tract's  father 


CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY  29 

Young  Men's  Academy  on  the  first  floor  of  the  same  build- 
ing, though  young  ladies  of  advanced  grade  recited  with  the 
gentlemen.  Mr.  Willard  Richardson,  like  his  father,  Rev. 
Lyman  Richardson,  and  uncle,  Preston  Richardson,  was  a 
born  educator,  and  very  successful  in  the  new  school.  He 
was  ably  assisted  by  his  wile,  formerly  Miss  Harriet  A. 
Tyler,  second  daughter  of  John  Tyler,  Jr.  (a  prominent 
citizen  of  Harford  County),  and  of  Polly  Wads  worth,  his 
wife,  a  descendent  of  Captain  Wadsworth,  who  hid  the  Con- 
necticut Charter  in  the  oak,  1687.  A  woman  of  intellect 
and  breadth  of  vision  and  rare  personal  graces,  she  endeared 
herself  to  her  pupils,  and  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in 
moulding  their  character  in  right  directions. 

Miss  Tucker  was  one  of  their  pupils  at  Franklin  Acad- 
emy, and,  recognizing  her  ability  and  ambitions,  they 
invited  her  to  assist  them  in  the  Honesdale  Seminary,  and 
continue  her  studies  at  the  same  time.  She  did  so,  and 
spent  two  profitable  years  with  them.  At  this  place  she 
had  classmates  who  were  a  great  stimulus  to  her,  Marshall 
Henshaw,  afterward  professor  in  Amherst  College,  and 
for  many  years  at  the  head  of  Williston  Seminary,  North- 
ampton, Massachusetts;  Rev.  Henry  Brownscombe,  who 
became  eminent  in  the  Methodist  Church;  and  others, 
ministers,  lawyers,  physicians,  and  jurists.  The  studies 
pursued  were  Latin  and  French,  Whateley's  Rhetoric  and 
Logic,  Karnes's  Elements  of  Criticism,  and  Cousin's  Psy- 
chology, studies  which ' '  none  of  the  other  ladies  attempted," 
as  Mrs.  Tracy  was  often  in  later  years  wont  to  remark  with 
justifiable  pride. 

In  1842,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richardson  left  to  found  another 
institution,  and  the  trustees  asked  Miss  Tucker  to  remain 
in  charge  of  the  Ladies'  Seminary,  which  was  thereafter 
distinct  from  the  Young  Men's  Academy. 

At  the  end  of  two  years,  Miss  Tucker  asked  leave  of 


30  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

absence  to  spend  some  time  in  an  institution  of  high  grade, 
to  pursue  some  special  studies,  and  to  learn  more  of  the 
methods  of  educators  of  renown.  They  readily  granted  her 
request  and  supplied  her  place  until  her  return.  She 
chose  Troy  Seminary,  New  York,  at  that  time  regarded  as 
superior  to  any  other  institution  for  young  ladies  in  the 
United  States,  being  several  years  older  than  Mount 
Holyoke,  then  attracting  much  attention.  In  Troy 
Seminary  she  continued  French  under  the  accomplished 
Professor  Edwards,  also  drawing  and  painting  under 
competent  teachers.     But  her  stay  was  brief. 

She  has  purposed  on  her  return  to  Honesdale  to  raise 
the  grade  of  the  school,  so  that  it  might  rank  favorably 
with  other  higher  institutions  in  the  country.  But  like 
many  other  human  plans,  it  was  destined  to  be  frustrated 
in  the  usual  human  way.  While  teaching  in  Honesdale, 
Miss  Tucker  boarded  at  the  home  of  Judge  Tracy,  and  there 
became  acquainted  with  his  younger  brother,  Horace 
Hyde  Tracy.  The  acquaintance  ripened  into  love,  and 
he  asked  her  to  become  his  wife.  His  health  had  been 
such  for  several  years  that  he  had  given  up  the  hope  of  a 
home  of  his  own,  and  of  a  long-cherished  desire  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  but  it  now  seemed  quite  restored.  Her  friends 
cautioned  her  not  to  have  too  much  confidence  in  the  per- 
manence of  his  good  health,  but  as  she  herself  wrote  of  her 
decision,  "I  was  quite  willing  to  take  the  risk,  as  my 
heart  responded  fully  to  the  nobility  and  devotion  of  his, 
and  in  a  few  months  we  were  united  in  marriage." 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  31 

The  following  poem  was  written  by  Mrs.  Tracey  in  her 
youth,  and  is  of  interest,  as  showing  what  choices  she  made 
even  then: 

IN   FANCY'S   WORLD 

I  love  to  dwell  in  fancy's  world 

Of  bright,  unreal  forms; 
To  see  the  beauties  there  unfurled, 

Far,  far  from  earthly  storms. 

O  yes,  I  could  forever  view 

The  glories  shining  there, 
And  yet  they'd  seem  forever  new, 

So  soft,  so  bright,  so  fair. 

Ah!   sure  I  fain  would  linger  long 

Within  these  fairy  lands, 
While  like  the  voice  of  sweetest  song, 

Each  scene  the  soul  expands. 

But  still  I  know  it  is  not  well 

T'  indulge  the  immortal  mind 
In  reverie;  though  sweet  the  spell, 

'Twill  fail  the  "soul  to  bind." 

There  is  a  pure,  unmingled  joy 

The  longing  soul  may  share, 
A  real  bliss  that  ne'er  shall  cloy, 

To  free  from  sin  and  care. 

Then  fancy's  joys  I  would  forego, 

Nor  offer  at  her  shrine 
My  praise;  for  well,  full  well  I  know 
Her  bliss  is  not  divine. 
1838. 


32  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

III 

JOY   AND   SORROW 

"Meanwhile  the  mind,  from  pleasure  less, 
Withdraws  into  its  happiness; 

Yet  it  creates,  transcending  these 
Far  other  worlds  and  other  seas, 
Annihilating  all  that's  made 
To  a  green  thought  in  a  green  shade." 

— Andrew  Marvel. 

One  would  almost  hesitate  to  lift  the  veil  from  this  part 
of  Mrs.  Tracy's  life  were  it  not  that  the  strength  and 
beauty  of  her  character  and  the  triumph  of  her  faith  stand 
out  in  such  bold  relief  against  the  gloomy  background  of 
earth's  heaviest  sorrows,  that  the  revelation  cannot  but  be 
an  inspiration  and  a  help  to  others  in  similar  trials.  She 
found  the  Shepherd  ready  to  comfort  with  rod  and  staff, 
and  though  she  passed  through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of 
Death,  she  learned,  through  His  tender  guidance,  that  it 
was  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  only  of  Death. 

Miss  Tucker  was  married  to  Horace  Hyde  Tracy,  at 
Honesdale,  Pennsylvania,  in  May,  1844,  by  their  beloved 
pastor,  Rev.  Henry  A.  Rowlands.  Horace  Hyde  Tracy 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Columbus,  Chenango  County, 
New  York,  May  26,  1811.  He  had  planned  to  be  a  minister, 
but  his  health  being  delicate,  he  came  to  Honesdale  in  1840, 
to  be  with  his  brother,  Judge  T.  H.  R.  Tracy,  and  to  engage 
in  work  that  would  keep  him  out  of  doors  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. 

Mr.  T.  H.  R.  Tracy  was  division  superintendent  on  the 


HORACE    HYDE   TRACY 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  33 

railroad  of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Company,  and 
he  detailed  his  brother  to  look  after  the  company  store  and 
boat-yard.  He  remained  in  this  employment  until  a  short 
time  before  his  death.  His  health  improved,  and  he  was 
able  to  do  his  work  comfortably. 

Miss  Tucker  came  to  Honesdale  in  1840  also,  and  was 
associated  as  a  teacher  with  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Willard  Rich- 
ardson in  the  Honesdale  Academy.  She  saw  Mr.  Horace 
H.  Tracy  only  at  church  the  first  year.  Then  when  the 
Richardsons,  with  whom  she  boarded,  left  to  teach  else- 
where, she  was  asked  to  take  charge  of  the  Honesdale 
Academy,  and  Judge  T.  H.  R.  Tracy,  one  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  school,  offered  her  board  at  his  house.  The 
young  people,  being  under  the  same  roof,  naturally  saw 
a  good  deal  of  each  other,  though  they  did  not  become 
engaged  until  a  few  months  before  their  marriage,  and 
not  presumably  [until  after  Miss  Tucker's  return  from 
Troy  Seminary,  New  York,  at  the  holidays.  Ambitious 
to  fit  herself  for  larger  responsibilities,  she  had  contem- 
plated a  much  longer  stay  at  Troy  than  just  one  term, 
but  as  she  herself  wrote,  "my  plans  were  frustrated  in 
the  usual  way." 

The  marriage  was  a  very  congenial  one,  and  four  happy 
years  followed,  though  Mr.  Tracy  was  practically  an  in- 
valid for  the  last  two  years.  Two  children  were  born  to 
them,  Horace  James  Tracy,  February  22,  1845,  and  little 
Clarissa  Aurelia,  October  3,  1847.  Mrs.  Tracy  continued 
to  teach  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  then  she  gave  up  her 
school  work  on  account  of  her  husband's  poor  health.  He 
was  better  and  then  worse,  apparently  better  one  year 
before  he  died  than  two  years.  He  kept  up  and  did  some- 
thing in  the  store  most  of  the  time,  but  as  his  physician 
advised  him  to  be  in  the  open  air  as  much  as  possible,  he 
spent  most  of  his  time  superintending  the  Canal  boat-yard, 


34  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

purchasing  material  for  building,  and  repairing  boats,  and 
until  six  weeks  of  his  death  went  once  or  twice  a  week  to  the 
boat-yard. 

At  an  early  age  he  had  made  a  profession  of  religion, 
devoting  himself  with  all  his  powers  to  the  service  of  his 
Redeemer.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Honesdale  Presby- 
terian Church,  July  18,  1840,  the  year  of  his  arrival  in  the 
place.  And  was  elected  elder  October  15.,  1842,  at  a  critical 
time  in  the  history  of  the  church.  There  had  been  a  split 
over  a  minister,  who  was  unworthy,  and  six  elders  had 
resigned.  Colonel  Seeley  and  Mr.  Horace  H.  Tracy  were 
the  only  two  upon  whom  all  could  agree. 

On  the  church  records  the  following  tribute  was  paid 
to  Mr.  Tracy:  "In  discharging  his  duties  as  elder  he  was 
firm  on  the  side  of  truth,  acting  with  a  conscientious  regard 
to  the  great  interest  committed  to  his  trust.  His  conduct 
was  uniformly  kind,  conciliatory,  and  upright.  His  integ- 
rity was  unbending,  and  his  zeal  was  earnest  and  con- 
sistent. His  piety  was  of  a  decided  character.  There  was 
no  turning  away  in  his  heart  from  that  religion  which  he 
early  professed."  He  was  also  most  genial  and  full  of  fun, 
and  earned  the  sobriquet  of  "Father"  Tracy,  because  he 
once  jokingly  told  Miss  Tucker  that  she  did  not  observe  the 
Scriptures  sufficiently  and  "entreat  an  elder  as  a  father." 
Small  wonder  that  to  the  last  days  of  her  life  Mrs.  Tracy 
treasured  the  memory  of  those  happy  years,  and  spoke  of 
them,  as  "blessed  years,  though  filled  with  sorrows." 

Just  two  years  before  he  died,  Mr.  Tracy  was  ordered 
to  the  seaside  to  see  what  the  invigorating  sea  air  would 
do  for  him.  From  there  he  wrote  his  wife  a  beautiful 
letter  and  enclosed  a  poem,  "A  Husband's  Prayer  in 
Absence,"  which  he  found  in  a  newspaper.  This  original 
clipping  was  found  nearly  threescore  years  after,  carefully 
treasured  among  Mrs.  Tracy's  personal  papers,  worn  and 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  35 

frayed  and  almost  ready  to  crumble  to  pieces,  and  well- 
nigh  illegible  from  frequent  handling.  Fortunately  Mrs. 
Tracy  had  told  the  story  of  it  in  "An  Interesting  Incident," 
published  in  the  Wisconsin  Puritan  several  years  later, 
and  had  had  the  poem  reprinted. 

The  sojourn  at  the  seashore  availed  little,  and  Mr. 
Tracy  came  home  little  benefited  by  his  stay.  He  kept 
up  bravely,  visiting  the  boat-yard  once  or  twice  a  day, 
until  six  weeks  before  he  died,  when  he  took  to  his  bed. 
To  the  last,  he  kept  up  his  serene  courage,  and  his  sick-room 
was  not  the  scene  of  despair  and  anguish,  but  of  sunny 
resignation  and  triumphant  hope.  The  beloved  pastor, 
Dr.  Henry  A.  Rowland,  visiting  him  a  short  time  before 
his  entrance  into  life  eternal,  and  talking  with  him  about 
the  outcome  of  his  sickness,  said,  "Now  you  look  the 
King  of  Terrors  full  in  the  face,  how  do  you  feel  respecting 
his  approach?"  Mr.  Tracy's  instant  reply  was,  "He  is 
the  easiest  conquered  of  any  foe  I  ever  met." 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  not  present  when  he  said  this,  but 
heard  it  first  when  she  listened  to  the  funeral  sermon,  for, 
with  her  usual  thriftiness,  she  "generally  took  the  time  of 
the  pastor's  calls  to  do  some  needed  thing  about  the  house.' ' 
For  six  months  or  more,  they  had  talked  of  his  going  home 
as  familiarly  as  of  anything  else.  Mr.  Tracy  died  June  9, 
1848,  "with  words  of  triumph  on  his  lips,  and  a  rich 
legacy  of  prayers  for  the  blessing  of  God  on  his  family." 
The  newspapers  of  the  day  say  that  his  funeral  was  at- 
tended by  an  immense  concourse  of  people.  Dr.  H.  A. 
Rowland  preached  the  funeral  sermon  from  the  text, 
John  xvii.  9,  reading  from  the  Scriptures  the  seventeenth 
Psalm. 

Fifty-seven  years  later,  that  triumphant  death-bed  scene 
was  more  vivid  to  Mrs.  Tracy's  mind  than  even  passing 
events.     It  was  my  blessed  privilege  to  stand  with  her 


36  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

one  morning  early  in  June,  1905,  on  our  south  porch. 
The  orchard  was  swelling  with  pink  buds,  ready  to  burst 
into  bloom;  the  pasture,  all  vivid  with  the  wonderful 
green  of  early  June,  lay  just  beyond  the  glowing  apple 
boughs,  and  the  air  was  full  of  summer  prophecies.  Mrs. 
Tracy  paused  abruptly  as  we  came  out  of  the  house  and 
the  scene  in  all  its  loveliness  burst  upon  our  view,  and 
with  an  eye  that  seemed  to  pierce  beyond  time  and  eternity, 
recited  with  deep  and  solemn  feeling  the  following  well- 
known  lines: 

"Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood 
Stand  dressed  in  living  green ; 
So  to  the  Jews  old  Canaan  stood, 
While  Jordan  rolled  between." 

After  an  interval,  as  if  that  long-ago  scene  once  more 
passed  in  review  before  her  inward  eye,  she  continued 
slowly  and  with  perceptible  pauses  between  the  sentences: 

"That  was  my  husband's  favorite  hymn.  When  he 
lay  on  his  death-bed  he  recited  it  to  me,  while  he  clasped 
my  hand.  I  can  never  forget  it,  nor  how  joyous  and 
radiant  he  looked  as  he  pointed  upward,  and  cried,  '  Christ 
meets  His  children.  The  redeemed!'  "  Truly  it  had  been 
a  "green  thought  in  a  green  shade"  through  all  the  years, 
even  down  to  a  green  old  age,  and  Mrs.  Tracy,  through  the 
gates  of  sorrow,  had  found  the  secret  of  perennial  youth. 

The  events  that  followed  her  husband's  death  are  best 
told  in  Mrs.  Tracy's  own  words: 

"We  had  spent  so  much  of  our  small  means  during  my 
husband's  sickness,  that  very  little  was  left  to  me.  This 
fact  never  gave  me  a  moment  of  anxiety.  One  year  later, 
I  began  a  small  school  in  my  own  house,  which  increased 
so  rapidly  that  I  rented  a  building  and  employed  an  as- 
sistant. Two  years  later,  a  large  academy  was  built  in 
our  place.     I  was  asked  to  transfer  my  school  to  this 


CLARISSA   AURELIA   TRACY 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  37 

institution  and  take  a  department  of  the  instruction,  which 
I  did  after  much  deliberation.  Here  I  had  three  delightful 
associates  for  four  years.  I  had  for  pupils  during  those 
years  several  who  have  risen  into  eminence,  Judge  Henry 
Seeley  of  Honesdale,  Judge  Alfred  Hand  of  Scranton, 
Pennsylvania,  Dr.  D.  B.  St.  John  Roosa  of  the  Eye  and 
Ear  Infirmary,  New  York,  the  lamented  poet,  Edward 
Rowland  Sill,  several  lawyers,  ministers,  and  business  men, 
whom  I  might  mention. 

"The  frequent  meetings  at  my  home  of  the  Academy 
teachers  and  students,  for  literary  work  and  conversation, 
were  a  great  source  of  stimulus  and  pleasure. 

"My  little  girl,  Clarissa  Aurelia,  died  from  an  attack  of 
measles,  April  3,  1851,  nearly  three  years  after  her  father, 
and  my  boy  entered  the  primary  department  of  the  Acad- 
emy. We  had  a  delightful  and  a  prosperous  school,  with 
five  teachers,  but  I  began  to  think  of  a  project  I  had  before 
I  was  married,  of  going  south  or  west,  where  advantages 
were  fewer,  and  where  I  might  establish  a  school  of  my  own. 
I  thought  of  it  by  night  and  by  day,  and  prayed  over  it." 


AN  INTERESTING   INCIDENT 

PUBLISHED  IN  THE  WISCONSIN  PURITAN.      DATE  UNKNOWN. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1846,  an  invalid  husband  and 
father  left  his  home,  to  try  for  a  few  weeks  the  effect  of 
sea  air.  He  spent  the  first  Sabbath  in  New  York.  From 
there  he  wrote  to  his  wife  the  letter  from  which  I  make 
the  following  extract:  "I  did  not  feel  able  to  attend 
divine  service  this  morning,  and  thought  it  would  not  be 
wrong  to  write  to  you,  knowing  your  great  anxiety  to  hear 
from  me.  I  had  just  seated  myself  for  the  purpose,  when 
a  rap  at  my  door  was  followed  by  the  entrance  of  a  newsboy. 


38  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

My  first  thought  was  to  say  I  do  not  patronize  newsboys 
on  Sunday,  but  somehow,  I  instinctively  rose,  took  the 
'Sunday  Sun,'  and  paid  him  for  it,  and  the  first  thing  on 
which  my  eye  rested  was  the  poetry  entitled  '  A  Husband's 
Prayer  in  Absence.'  I  read  it  and  re-read  it,  and  it  ex- 
pressed my  feelings  so  exactly  that  I  enclose  it  to  you.  I 
would  not  have  one  line  —  no,  not  one  word  —  altered." 
In  less  than  two  years  the  husband  left  his  home  to  return 
no  more;  but  there  remained  the  influence  of  a  holy  life 
and  the  sweet  fragrance  of  prayer. 

The  verses  to  which  allusion  has  been  made  were  placed 
for  safe-keeping  among  choice  mementoes  of  the  departed. 
They  have  been  shown  to  many  persons,  but  no  one  has 
been  found  who  had  ever  seen  them  before,  or  who  had 
any  idea  of  the  author.  Through  long  years  of  widowhood, 
their  influence  has  been  strong  and  sweet.  Often  at  the 
"morning's  dawn"  and  "day's  declining"  has  the  "Bless 
her,  O  Father,"  come  with  its  soothing  power;  in  the 
"every  duty  of  her  life,"  imparted  strength  to  the  some- 
times fainting  heart.  It  has  prompted  and  made  sacred 
"the  kindly  mission."  It  has  rung  out  over  tfee  desolation 
of  bereavement,  and  made  "her  lot  with  blessings  rife" 
such  blessings  as  He  only  gives  who  answers  prayers. 

The  reprint  of  these  verses  may  cause  some  other  eye 
that  reads  them  to  cease  its  weeping,  and  impart  strength 
to  some  other  "spirit  that  feels  its  courage  falter." 

The  following  are  the  verses  referred  to: 

A   HUSBAND'S   PRAYER   IN   ABSENCE 

Oh  Father!   Thou  in  whom  I  live, 

And  trust  for  life  immortal, 
When  Time  my  farewell  shall  receive 

At  Death's  dark  portal; 
Source  of  all  blessing,  unto  Thee 

I  bring  my  fond  petition; 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  39 

Yet  to  Thy  will  my  spirit  be 
In  low  submission. 

Thou  in  Thy  goodness  hast  filled  up 

Life's  chalice  all  with  sweetness, 
And  one  bright  treasure  to  my  cup 

Imparts  completeness; 
That  treasure  is  the  peerless  love 

Of  her  who  ever  shareth 
Each  pleasure  that  my  heart  may  move, 

Each  pain  it  beareth. 

For  her,  oh  Father!   I  will  pray, 

Thy  Son's  great  merit  pleading, 
Who  sitteth  on  Thy  throne  alway 

There  interceding; 
Guard  Thou  my  darling  by  Thy  power, 

Thy  own  strong  arm  surround  her; 
Bid  Thy  kind  angels  every  hour 

Keep  watch  around  her. 

Afar  from  her  I  sadly  roam, 

Among  the  strange  a  stranger, 
And  sometimes  with  sweet  thoughts  of  home, 

Some  fears  of  danger! 
Then,  when  my  heart  has  sunk,  and  Fear 

Laid  her  dark  hand  upon  me, 
From  sorrow  and  almost  despair, 

Thy  love  has  won  me. 

I  know  I  cannot  shield  her  form 

From  sickness  or  from  sorrow; 
I  know  that  o  'er  her  some  dread  storm 

May  break  to-morrow; 
And  I  may  feel  no  pang  the  while, 

May  smile  while  she  doth  languish ; 
Some  trifle  may  my  heart  beguile 

Amid  her  anguish! 

Oh,  Father!  let  me  ever  feel 
In  Thee  a  sweet  reliance, 


40  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

And  to  each  boding  thought  of  ill 

I'll  bid  defiance; 
Bless  Thou  my  treasure!  with  Thy  care 

Vouchsafe  her  Thy  protection, 
And  I  will  never  more  despair, 

Or  feel  dejection. 

Oh!   bless  her  at  the  morning's  dawn, 

And  at  the  day's  declining, 
And  when  the  silent  hours  steal  on, 

Night's  shadows  twining; 
Bless  her,  oh  Father!   when  she  kneels 

Beside  the  dear  home-altar, 
And  bless  her  when  her  spirit  feels 

It's  courage  falter. 

Bless  her  when  on  her  youthful  cheek 

The  red  rose  tints  are  blooming; 
And  bless  her  when  her  frame  is  weak, 

Her  bright  eye  glowing; 
In  every  duty  of  her  life, 

In  every  kindly  mission, 
Oh!   make  her  lot  with  blessing  rife, 

A  sweet  fruition. 


In  an  old  portfolio  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  was  found,  in  her 
handwriting  and  over  her  signature,  two  poems  in  blank 
verse,  written  the  summer  that  her  husband  passed  away. 

These  poems,  "The  Sufferer"  and  "The  Death-bed 
Scene,"  are  so  remarkable,  as  showing  the  largeness  of  her 
faith  and  the  native  courage  of  her  mind,  that  they  are 
given  entire  without  comment. 

THE    SUFFERER 

Weary  months  passed  on,  and  lengthened 
Into  years,  while  I  watched  with 
Anxious  eye  the  fatal  work  of 
Life's  insidious  destroyer. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  41 

And  I  watched  with  no  common  eye, 
For  his  victim  was  blent  with  life's 
Dearest  hopes  and  brightest  visions. 
Oft  at  bright  noon  and  dusky  even 
I  raised  my  pleading  cry  to  Heaven, 

0  spare,  my  God!     Spare  him  to  me! 
Overwhelm  not  yet  my  bowing  soul 
In  deepest  anguish!     I  plead 

His  faithful  promises,  but  alas! 
His  wise  interpretation  was 
To  shorten  the  work  and  remove 
To  glory  him  on  whom  my  soul 
So  fondly  and  so  firmly  leaned 
For  comfort  in  life's  dreary  path. 
The  sufferer  in  calmness  and 
Patience  lived  on  while  his  wasting 
Form  and  brightening  eye  betokened 
Early  death,  for  his  soul  was  long 
Since  stayed  on  God,  an  anchor  sure, 
Within  the  veil  was  cast.     "O  how 
Could  mourning  fill  his  breast  ?     He  who 
So  soon  would  be  from  blighting  sin 
Forever  free."     Bright  morn  of  blest 
Resurrection  would  restore  what 
Now  seemed  lost  to  me.     So  then 

1  bowed  in  low  submission  and  said, 
"Oh  God!     Thy  will,  not  mine,  be  done." 


THE  DEATH-BED  SCENE 

Earth's  loveliest  green,  in  richest 

And  freshest  beauty,  shone  on  hill 

And  sparkled  in  dale.     The  bright  sun 

Rose  in  majesty  and  glory 

On  that  ever  to  be  remembered 

Morn!     Anxiously  and  painfully 

The  night  had  passed.     A  fond  brother 

And  a  nearer  friend  had  sought  in 

Vain  to  ease  the  sufferer.     No 

More  rest  for  him  on  earth.     'Twas  come, 


42  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

The  last,  fatal,  long-dreaded  hour. 

(Dreaded  by  friends,  I  mean).     For  him 

It  had  no  power  to  move.     Jesus 

Was  his  polar  star,  heaven  his  goal. 

And  thus  guided,  he  looked  firmly 

And  steadily  to  his  resting 

Place,  e'en  now  in  loveliest  view! 

Fainter  and  shorter  grew  his  breath, 

While  angel  strains  were  on  his  lips. 

They  told  of  glory,  Christ,  and  Heaven. 

Love's  gentle  pressure  of  the  hand 

Enclosed  in  his,  spoke  consciousness, 

E'en  in  his  dying  gasp,  and  told 

A  long,  a  last  farewell  below. 

He's  gone.     O,  desolating  words! 

My  God!     O  bear  my  fainting 

Spirit  up,  and  soothe  my  bleeding 

Heart.     Thy  healing  balm  alone  hath  power. 

Darkened  are  all  my  earthly  hopes. 

I  say  not  destroyed,  for  I  have 

Yet  two  sweet  prattlers  left  to  soothe 

My  solitary  hours.     But  oh! 

The  thought  that  they  are  fatherless 

Sends  to  my  heart  a  thrilling  pang. 

May  I  but  train  them  for  the  skies, 

For  a  place  among  that  white-robed 

Throng  around  the  throne.     We  all  will 

Soon  be  there,  a  glorious  meeting. 

Linger,  O  linger  near  me,  sweet  spirit 

Of  the  loved,  the  "blessed  dead,"  though  I  may 

Not  with  mortal  eyes  behold  thee,  or  hear 

Thy  noiseless  tread,  yet  linger  near  me. 

May  thy  holy  influence  o'er  my  heart, 

And  life  be  shed.     I  would  not  worship  thee 

With  a  vain  idolatry.     I  know  my 

God  hath  said,  "Before  ho  idol  bow  thy 

Knees."     O  I  would  give  Him  homage  supreme. 

Yet,  sweet  spirit,  if  thou  hast  an  earthly 

Mission  and  art  free  to  choose  thy  station, 

Linger,  I  beseech  thee,  near  me,  to  chase 

Away  the  gloom  of  earth,  and  silently 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  43 

Allure  my  soul  away  to  heaven,  thy  own 
Glorious  home.     I  will  feel  that  thou  art 
Near,  and  tellest  me  of  joys  in  store  for 
Me  above  —  that  days  and  months  will  swiftly 
Pass,  and  I,  too,  will  join  that  ransomed  throng 
To  praise  the  Lamb  and  do  His  holy  will. 
1848. 


44  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

IV 

A   MOMENTOUS   DECISION 

"The  decision  of  a  moment  is  often  a  momentous  decision." 

How  Mrs.  Tracy  came  to  Ripon  is  told  so  well  in  her 
own  words,  in  a  brief  autobiographical  sketch  which  she 
prepared  in  1883  for  the  Ripon  Educational  Club,  of  which 
she  was  a  member,  that  it  is  thought  best  to  give  it  entire, 
as  she  gave  it.* 

"In  the  autumn  of  1855  I  began  to  feel  a  revival  of  my 
early  desire  to  teach  somewhere  in  less  favored  places. 
I  knew  some  one  could  take  my  place  in  the  Academy  who 
might  not  be  willing  to  got  to  new  and  harder  fields.  The 
desire  grew  and  became  intense.  I  think  I  sincerely  de- 
sired to  be  guided  by  One  who  never  errs  in  His  plans. 

"My  thoughts  seemed  to  be  directed  to  the  West  rather 
than  to  the  South  at  this  time.  I  corresponded  with 
former  Governor  Slade  of  Vermont,  who  during  several 
years  had  brought  to  the  West  companies  of  teachers. 
I  thought  he  might  direct  me  to  a  place  for  establishing  a 
girls'  school.  He  referred  me  to  some  places  in  Indiana 
and  Illinois. 

"About  this  time  three  families  of  my  acquaintance 
decided  to  move  to  Wisconsin,  the  Cranes,  the  Robinsons, 
and  Mr.  Williams  and  family,  of  Seeleyville,  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  Williams  went  West  to  look  for  a  favorable  location, 
and   decided  on   Neenah.    Soon   after  his   return,   at  a 

♦This  sketch  was  also  part  of  a  special  correspondence  page  by  Mrs.  Ada  C. 
Merrell  on  Mrs.  Tracy,  a  Veteran  Teacher,  which  appeared  in  the  Milwaukee 
Sentinel,  December  13,  1903,  and  later  in  part  in  College  Days,  for  December, 
1903. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  45 

Christmas  party  at  his  home,  he  told  me  of  his  plans,  and 
said: 

"  'Mrs.  Tracy,  you'd  better  go  with  us  and  teach  our 
children  for  us.'  A  sensation  like  a  flash  of  lightning  came 
over  me,  and  I  thought  perhaps  this  is  the  call  for  which 
I  have  prayed.  The  impression  was  so  strong  that  I 
hardly  knew  what  I  did  or  said  or  ate  while  there.  When 
Mr.  Williams  took  me  home  that  evening  I  said  to  him: 
'  I  am  not  sure  but  I  may  act  on  the  suggestion  you 
made,  though  I  suppose  you  were  only  joking.' 

"  'Indeed,  I  was  not,'  he  said.  'I  meant  what  I  said. 
I  was  asked  in  Neenah  whether  or  not  I  knew  of  some  one 
who  could  teach  a  private  school  and  help  in  church  work 
and  Sunday  school.  You  came  to  my  mind  at  once,  and 
I  said, 'Yes.'" 

"Then  came  thoughts  of  my  dear  pupils  and  friends  of 
many  years'  standing;  the  precious  graves  of  my  husband 
and  my  little  daughter;  my  parents  in  their  declining 
years;  the  church  and  Sunday  school  I  had  loved  so  well; 
the  dear  brother-in-law,  who  had  been  as  a  father  to  me; 
and  my  pastor,  who  had  married  us,  baptized  my  children, 
buried  my  husband  and  little  child.  Still  the  impression 
of  something  like  a  divine  call  was  on  me. 

"Several  remarkable  incidents  occurred  within  the 
next  few  months  that  loosened  the  ties  that  bound  me  to 
my  old  home.  My  pastor  was  called  to  Newark,  New 
Jersey;  my  brother-in-law,  Judge  Tracy,  died,  and  the 
rented  house  in  which  I  lived  was  sold.  So,  in  mind,  I 
fully  decided  to  leave  my  home.  One  thing  still  made  me 
hesitate.  I  did  not  know  what  my  mother  might  think. 
I  wrote  to  her,  stating  my  plans,  and  asked  her  how  she 
felt  about  it.    The  answer  came: 

"  'I  have  long  felt  that  it  is  your  wish  to  do  God's  will 
in  any  way  He  marks  out  for  you.     If  you  think  this  is 


46  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

the  way  He  leads  you,  I  can  only  say  "Go."  '  I  hesitated 
no  longer. 

"On  June  6,  1856,  our  company  of  seventeen  left  for 
Wisconsin.  We  came  to  Oswego,  New  York,  crossed 
Lake  Ontario,  took  cars  for  Collingwood,  thence  by 
steamer  to  Sheboygan,  by  stage  to  Fond  du  Lac,  then  by 
boat  to  Neenah,  which  we  reached  on  June  13th.  I 
opened  a  private  school,  which  I  continued  for  three  years. 
I  soon  saw  that  Neenah  was  not  the  place  in  which  to  es- 
tablish a  permanent  school,  as  business  was  the  great 
object  of  the  people. 

"I  left  Neenah  on  the  23d  of  June,  just  three  years  from 
the  time  I  arrived  there.  Before  leaving,  I  was  invited 
to  take  a  position  in  a  ladies'  seminary  in  Indianapolis, 
Indiana,  with  former  associate  teachers,  but  I  decided  to 
visit  my  Eastern  home  before  giving  my  decision. 

"I  had  not  been  in  Honesdale  more  than  two  days 
before  two  of  the  trustees  of  the  Honesdale  Academy 
called  on  me,  and  in  most  cordial  manner  welcomed  me 
back  to  Honesdale,  and  requested  me  to  take  my  old  place 
in  the  Academy.  I  told  them  I  would  consider  the  matter 
and  report  later,  but  I  felt  quite  inclined  to  accept.  Mean- 
while I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Bowen,  of  Ripon,  who 
was  in  New  York  to  purchase  goods  for  his  store,  saying 
that  in  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  what  was  then  Brock- 
way  College,  he,  as  one  of  the  trustees,  was  commissioned 
to  offer  me  the  position  of  teacher,  and  Superintendent  of 
the  Ladies'  Department  of  the  College,  and  hoped  that 
I  would  accept. 

"I  had  very  pleasant  memories  of  Ripon,  for  while  in 
Neenah,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  William  Foster,  Mrs.  Taylor  of 
Ripon,  had  sent  me  an  invitation  to  her  daughter's  wed- 
ding. I  had  gone,  and  while  there  had  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Mrs.  Abram  Thomas,  sister  of  Miss  Radfield,  an 


MRS.    LUCY   HARRIS   TUCKER 
mrs.  tracy's  mother 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  47 

associate  teacher  in  Honesdale  Academy  days.  Through 
them  I  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Bowen, 
who  had  come  to  Ripon  from  Carbondale,  Pennsylvania, 
and  were  well  acquainted  with  cousins  of  mine  in  Susque- 
hanna County.  I  visited  the  three  families  in  Ripon  three 
or  four  times  during  jny  stay  in  Neenah,  went  to  see  the 
new  college  buildings  and  other  places,  and  was  greatly 
attracted  by  it.  Mr.  Bowen's  letter  surprised  me  very 
much,  as  I  had  about  decided  to  stay  at  Honesdale.  But 
the  more  I  thought  about  it,  the  more  I  felt  that  to  go  to 
Ripon  would  be  nearer  to  carrying  out  my  first  plans  than 
anything  I  had  done. 

"I  prayed  over  the  matter.  The  conflicting  calls 
caused  one  of  the  greatest  struggles  of  my  life.  The  time 
drew  near  when  I  must  write  to  Mr.  Bowen.  I  was  stay- 
ing with  Mrs.  Judge  Tracy,  in  her  old  home  on  Front 
Street.  I  felt  that  I  must  go  to  my  room  and  have  the 
struggle  out  there.  I  felt  as  never  before  that  I  wanted 
to  leave  the  decision  with  God.  I  asked  Him  to  decide 
for  me.  I  committed  my  way  wholly  to  Him,  and  felt  a 
great  peace,  and  went  to  bed  and  slept  till  morning.  I 
awoke  in  the  same  peace  of  mind,  and  with  the  decision 
that  I  would  go  to  Ripon.  The  story  of  my  life  in  Ripon 
has  been  varied  with  light  and  shadows,  but  I  have  not 
felt  for  a  moment  that  I  was  not  divinely  led." 

"  As  near  as  I  can  estimate,  I  have  taught  in  all  sixty- 
four  years.  I  have  taught  in  nearly  forty-five  years  of 
my  active  connection  with  Ripon  College  every  graduate 
of  Ripon  since,  up  to  1895  or  1896,  and  some  since.  I  have 
taught  seven  or  eight  judges,  including  Judge  Seeley  and 
Judge  Hand  of  Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  also  Judge  James 
Blanchard  of  New  York,  and  Judge  Charles  Pond  of  Min- 
neapolis, seven  or  eight  senators,  several  scores  of  lawyers 
and  doctors,  and  four  or  more  score  of  ministers,  and  about 


48  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

a  dozen  or  more  of  missionaries  in  the  foreign  field.  I  am 
profoundly  thankful  to  my  Heavenly  Father  that  He  has 
permitted  me  to  do  this  work."* 


The  fourth  stanza  of  the  following  poem  has  reference 
to  the  momentous  decision: 

MY   EBENEZER 

"Then  Samuel  took  a  stone  and  set  it  between  Mizpeh  and  Shen, 
and  called  the  name  of  it  Ebenezer,  saying  'Hitherto  hath  the  Lord 
helped  us.'"— 1  Sam.  vii.  12. 

When  hope  was  light  and  life  was  fair, 
My  youthful  heart  devoid  of  care, 
As  then  I  reached  a  wished-for  goal, 
I  said  in  secret  to  my  soul, 

Now  here,  I  '11  raise  my  Ebenezer. 

But  as  the  years  flew  swiftly  past, 
Dark  clouds  my  earthly  sky  o'ercast; 
Yet  with  answering  faith  I  knew 
The  promises  of  God  were  true; 
Again  I  raised  my  Ebenezer. 

A  chastening  hand  oppressed  me  sore; 
The  joys  of  earth  seemed  mine  no  more, 
But  many  loving  friends  were  near, 
Giving  their  words  of  hope  and  cheer; 
In  faith,  I  raised  my  Ebenezer. 

When  once  I  came  to  parting  ways, 
I  stood  in  doubt  and  great  amaze, 
I  could  not  tell  which  path  to  tread, 
But  soon  a  voice  my  footsteps  led ; 
In  hope,  I  raised  my  Ebenezer. 

Many  a  milestone  I  have  passed, 
Each  brings  me  nearer  to  the  last, 

*  This  paragraph  is  a  quotation  from  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Stolker  of  Hones- 
dale,  in  response  to  a  request  for  the  story  of  her  life  for  the  record  in  the 
annals  of  the  Honesdale  Church,  of  which  Mrs.  Tracy  was  a  member. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  49 

And  now  the  eightieth  comes  to  view, 
With  friends  so  loving  and  so  true; 
In  love,  I  raised  my  Ebenezer. 

O  Thou  who  art  the  Truth,  the  Way, 

Thy  hand  hath  led  me  day  by  day, 

In  work  or  rest,  in  joy  or  pain, 

Once  more  I  give  the  sweet  refrain, 
I  raise  my  Ebenezer,  Lord, 
In  faith's  and  hope's  and  love's  accord. 


A   CHILD   OF   PRAYER 

Among  the  odds  and  ends  of  newspaper  clippings  found 
among  Mrs.  Tracy's  papers  was  the  following  article  from 
"The  American  Magazine,"  signed  "C,"  Mrs.  Tracy's 
usual  signature  to  such  contributions.  We  have  no  doubt 
that  the  child  of  prayer  referred  to  was  her  own  son,  Horace, 
who  joined  the  church  at  Neenah,  when  twelve  years  of  age. 
A  letter  and  a  poem  to  her  son,  Horace,  on  his  tenth  birth- 
day were  also  found  among  her  papers,  and  are  reproduced 
in  this  connection. 

"At  our  last  communion  season  in  this  place,  among  those 
who  "stood  before  the  Lord,"  and  called  men  and  angels  to 
witness  their  decision  to  serve  Him,  was  a  boy  of  twelve 
summers.  Several  months  had  passed  since  he  felt  that  he 
had  given  his  heart  to  the  Saviour,  and  he  earnestly  desired 
publicly  to  profess  his  love  to  Him;  his  pastor  and  the  ses- 
sion thought  it  would  not  be  right  to  deny  him  the  privilege 

"  While  I  sat,  an  interested  spectator  of  this  scene, 
another  was  vividly  recalled. 

"More  than  a  thousand  miles  eastward  of  my  present 
location,  twelve  years  before,  in  a  quiet  parlor  on  a  Sab- 
bath morning,  just  after  this  boy  saw  the  light  of  the  world, 
a  small  household  was  gathered  around  the  family  altar, 
and  the  father  in  prayer  and  faith  solemnly  gave  this  child 


50  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

to  God;  he  petitioned  that  whatever  else  was  denied  him, 
he  might  have  the  converting  and  sanctifying  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  All  present  at  that  hour,  felt  that  the  prayer  of  faith 
had  been  offered.  A  few  years  after,  that  father  went  home 
to  his  everlasting  rest.  Through  weary  months  of  suffering, 
and  even  down  to  the  entrance  of  the  "dark  valley,"  he 
testified  to  the  faithfulness  of  God. 

"  And  now  in  this  distant  spot,  as  I  beheld  this  child 
devote  himself  to  the  service  of  the  God  of  his  father,  I 
felt  that  there  was  a  mysterious,  a  holy  connection  between 
that  paternal  dedication  and  the  vows  the  child  now  as- 
sumed. To  me  it  was  a  most  beautiful  and  impressive 
testimony  of  the  faithfulness  of  a  covenant-keeping  God." 

C. 

Honesdalb,  Pa.,  February  22,  1855. 

My  dear,  precious  boy:  It  is  ten  years  to-day  since  your  little 
eyes  first  looked  out  on  this  world  —  ten  years  since  your  little 
heart  began  its  beatings  which  shall  not  cease  until  the  hour  your 
spirit  takes  its  flight  to  the  unseen  world. 

It  is  ten  years  since  I  first  felt  the  gushing  of  a  mother's  love, 
when  I  looked  on  your  tiny  face  and  said,  'Is  this  indeed  my  child, 
and  must  I  train  him  for  weal  or  woe?'  Oh,  how  insignificant  I  felt 
as  I  looked  through  time  and  into  eternity. 

But  there  was  a  scene  after  this  to  which  I  now  wish  to  call  your 
attention.  It  will  be  ten  years  to-morrow  since  your  dear  father 
knelt  in  our  little  room,  and  thanked  God  for  the  gift  of  a  little  son ; 
then  fervently  and  earnestly  dedicated  him  to  His  service;  he 
prayed  that  his  life  might  be  spared  to  live  and  labor  for  His  glory 
—  even  now  those  tones  seem  to  sound  in  my  ears,  and  make  their 
impress  on  my  heart,  as  when  it  responded  Amen  to  these  petitions. 

Ten  years  you  have  been  spared.  We  have  seen  that  father's 
eyes  close  in  death,  and  his  form  borne  away  from  us.  We  have 
laid  your  darling  sister  by  his  side  in  their  last  sleep.  They  are 
happy  in  heaven.  Shall  we  go  there  also  ?  Yes,  if  we  love  and  serve 
God  while  here  we  may  be  happy  with  Him  forever. 

Your  father's  dying  prayers  were  that  his  children  might  meet 


JAMES   HORACE  TRACY 

AT    TEX    YEARS    OF    AGE 


CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY  51 

him  in  heaven.  You  are  now  old  enough  to  give  God  your  heart, 
and  to  love  and  serve  Him  all  the  rest  of  your  life.  Will  you  not 
think  of  it?  Will  you  not  earnestly  ask  Him  to  teach  and  guide 
you  by  His  spirit?  so  that  whether  your  life  be  long  or  short,  you 
may  feel  that  you  have  not  lived  in  vain. 

Affectionately  your  Mother, 

C.  T.  Tracy. 


TO  HORACE  TRACY 

I  have  many  a  sweet  treasure, 

Many  a  cup  of  joy, 
And  rich  blessings  without  measure; 
But  my  dearest  earthly  treasure 

Is  my  fatherless  boy. 

At  morn,  the  first  object  of  thought, 

I  listen  for  his  voice, 
To  learn  if  the  lesson  I  've  taught 
To  his  mind  improvement  has  brought, 

Which  makes  my  heart  rejoice. 

I  love  to  feel  his  arms  entwine 

Around  my  neck  at  eve ; 
I  could  all  else  on  earth  resign, 
And  bless,  O  God!  thy  hand  divine 

While  I  this  boon  receive. 

Whate'er  in  life  shall  me  betide, 

Or  my  best  thoughts  employ, 
This  one  o  'er  all  shall  preside, 
In  the  path  of  virtue  to  guide 

My  dear  fatherless  boy. 

I  know  in  future  he  will  stray 

Where  sin's  bright  ways  allure; 
But  while  I  tread  life's  rugged  way 
To  God  I  '11  lift  my  heart  and  pray 
To  make  His  covenant  sure. 

When  thoughts  of  that  sweet  home  of  rest, 
And  treasures  gathered  there, 


52  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

Shall  come  to  calm  this  troubled  breast 
I  '11  raise  to  God  the  great  request 
That  he  those  joys  may  share. 

If  I  those  heavenly  courts  shall  see 

And  praise  my  tongue  employ, 
How  very  sweet  the  thought  will  be 
In  that  bright  place  to  welcome  thee, 
Dear,  dear  fatherless  boy. 

HONESDALE,  Pa.,  1855. 


MRS.  TRACY   IN   NEENAH 

The  impressions  of  a  child  of  eight  years  are  only  of 
value  as  they  show  the  impressions  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  plastic  material.  It  was  at  that  age  I  was  placed  in  the 
school  Mrs.  Tracy  had  opened  in  Neenah,  Wisconsin,  and 
I  knew  her  only  that  winter  of  my  life.  That  I  have  seemed 
to  know  her  always  is  but  another  testimony  to  the  strength 
of  her  personality.  She  had  come  out  there,  a  widow  with 
one  child,  an  idolized  boy,  but  even  at  that  age,  and  pos- 
sessed myself  of  parents  who  put  character  before  every 
other  consideration,  it  was  evident  even  to  me  that  all 
hopes  for  her  only  son  were  centered  in  his  becoming  a  man, 
strong  with  the  strength  of  goodness.  She  and  Horace 
were  frequently  and  familiarly  at  our  home,  but  at  school 
or  at  home,  we  knew  that  Mrs.  Tracy  had  but  one  standard: 
"Is  this  right?  Then  let  us  do  it,  though  the  Heavens 
fall."  Sensitive  she  was,  and  frail  we  thought  her,  perhaps 
because  she  was  in  the  first  years  of  her  grief,  following  the 
loss  of  her  beloved  husband;  but  though  it  was  a  winter 
which  seemed  severe  indeed  to  the  strangers  from  eastern 
Pennsylvania,  and  I  was  being  carried  through  the  heavy 
snows  on  the  shoulders  of  a  Norwegian  seven  feet  high, 
Mrs.  Tracy  went  to  and  from  the  schoolroom  as  if  she  felt 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  53 

the  hidden  power  within  that  slender  form.  Woe  to  the 
child  who  tried  any  royal  road  to  learning,  or  who  cared  so 
little  for  her  standing  as  to  be  absent  without  cause.  Her 
keen  eyes  could  flash,  and  her  tongue  cut  keenly  too.  Those 
eyes  tested  your  metal,  her  voice  demanded  the  best  that 
was  in  you.  And  when  the  long  school  day,  from  nine  to 
four,  with  its  hour  at  noon,  was  over  (I  have  heard  my 
mother  say  that  Mrs.  Tracy  took  twenty  minutes  of  that 
time  to  write  her  letters),  who  so  much  appreciated  around 
the  evening  hearth  as  she!  '  And  the  members  of  our  little 
circle  carried  with  them  always  the  remembrance  of  Mrs. 
Tracy  as  a  faithful  friend,  with  an  intellect  awake  to  the 
best  things,  and  a  warm  belief  in  the  future  of  that  western 
world  for  whose  promise  she  had  left  a  "safe"  and  culti- 
vated eastern  life.  Of  such  stuff  are  the  Mary  Lyons 
made,  and  the  vigor,  insight,  faith,  and  self-sacrifice  that 
has  gone  so  deeply  into  the  history  of  Ripon  College  was 
akin  to  that  which  laid  the  foundations  of  old  Holyoke. 

Fannie  Ruth  Robinson, 

Oxford,  Ohio. 


54  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

V 

MRS.   TRACY  IN   COLLEGE   PIONEERING 


"Those  who  love  to  trace  a  divine  hand  always  have  a  divine 
hand  to  trace."  —  Mrs.  Tracy's  Scrap-book. 


Some  of  the  finest  and  strongest  qualities  in  Mrs.  C.  T. 
Tracy's  character  were  displayed  in  the  pioneer  activities 
of  Ripon  College.  She  was  appointed  to  the  double  office 
of  matron  and  teacher  October  3,  1859,  and  took  up  her 
work  at  once;  and  she  continued  in  connection  with  the 
college  to  the  end  of  her  life,  November  13,  1905,  when 
she  died  at  the  great  age  of  eighty-seven  years  and  one 
day.  When  she  came  to  the  work,  it  is  but  the  truth  to 
say  that  there  was  little  more  to  the  college  than  a  charter 
and  a  name.  There  was  a  campus  and  two  partially  com- 
pleted buildings;  but  a  heavy  debt,  the  larger  part  of  which 
was  drawing  interest  at  the  rate  of  twelve  per  cent,  kept 
the  institution  in  condition  of  poverty  and  peril.  A 
forced  sale  of  the  entire  property  would  probably  have 
realized  barely  enough  to  pay  the  debts.  The  First  Wis- 
consin Cavalry  were  allowed  to  occupy  the-grounds  in  the 
autumn  of  1861,  and  their  leaving  was  so  late  that  the 
school  was  suspended  for  one  year.  Mrs.  Tracy,  how- 
ever, occupied  rooms  in  one  of  the  buildings,  and  furnished 
board  for  some  of  the  officers  of  the  regiment,  and  she 
gathered  a  number  of  pupils  whom  she  taught  in  a  kind 
of  a  select  school.  College  work  was  resumed  in  the 
autumn  of  1862,  and  the  number  of  students  soon 
greatly  increased,  splendid  fellows  from  the  army  drop- 
ping in  as  the  terms  of  their  enlistment  expired. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER    TRACY 

ABOUT    1868 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  55 

Here  came  the  opportunity  for  the  display  of  Mrs. 
Tracy's  superior  qualities.  Of  endowments  there  were 
none;  in  library  and  laboratory  equipments  there  was 
little;  but  in  the  scope  for  service  there  was  ample  room. 
Rev.  William  E.  Merriman  came  to  the  presidency  in  the 
autumn  of  1863,  and  he  brought  with  him  a  most  notable 
spirit  of  sacrifice  and  inspiration  for  "plain  living  and  high 
thinking."  He  exhorted  with  the  power  of  great  speech 
indeed,  but  in  the  true  spirt  of  the  Homeric  heroes  he  was 
a  file-leader  at  the  front  of  the  battle.  It  was  a  passion 
with  him  to  allure  to  brighter  worlds,  but  he  led  the  way. 
He  came  to  the  presidency  only  on  the  condition  that  "  the 
college  should  be  operated  on  its  earnings,  and  that  all 
money  raised,  after  paying  the  debts,  should  go  to  per- 
manent enlargement."  This  seemed  to  put  the  teaching 
force  to  a  pretty  severe  testing,  for  the  salaries,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  could  be  only  nominal.  At  the  end  of 
the  year  the  teachers  took  each  his  little  share,  and  the 
accounts  were  balanced. 

How  Mrs.  Tracy  met  her  responsibilities  in  conditions 
like  those  of  the  sixties  and  early  seventies  would  make 
a  fascinating  story,  if  told  in  detail.  It  is  to  speak  of 
things  obvious  to  say  that  she  brought  to  her  tasks  a  wiry 
though  slight  physical  frame;  a  rugged  intelligence;  a 
determined  though  chastened  will;  a  great  moral  enthusi- 
asm, which  underrun  endeavors  that  would  have  been  with- 
out it  vexatious  or  even  appalling;  a  swift  mastery  of 
detail,  in  which  the  main  purpose  was  never  lost;  a  sharp 
exaction  in  service,  yet  tempered  with  charity  towards  the 
untrained  and  the  wayward;  a  love  for  her  pupils,  in  which 
self-interest  was  sunk  out  of  sight ;  and  an  enduring  faith 
in  a  Providence  which  ruled  over  college,  church,  and  the 
ways  of  her  personal  life.  She  knew  how  to  teach,  and  in 
her   specialties,  particularly  in  botany,  she   was  full   of 


56  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

knowledge,  and  she  had  a  wise  way  of  getting  results  from 
her  classes.  She  has  been  heard  to  say,  that  she  did  not 
understand  how  any  one  could  analyze  a  flower  and  ever 
forget  the  analysis.  Certainly  she  had  a  quite  exhaustive 
knowledge  of  our  local  flora. 

But  after  all,  in  the  early  days  she  was  greatest  as  the 
head  of  the  domestic  department.  The  number  of  board- 
ers averaged  a  hundred  or  more.  To  care  for  these  well 
would  not,  under  usual  circumstances,  be  regarded  as  a 
serious  task;  but  the  circumstances  were  not  usual.  The 
equipment  was  slender,  and  there  were  no  trained  helpers. 
There  was  no  money  to  provide  labor-saving  devices, 
neither  to  pay  for  luxuries  or  trained  workers.  All  of  the 
work  was  done  by  the  students,  and  the  head  must  supply 
skill,  system,  and  efficiency  for  the  entire  household. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that,  in  limitations  such  as  these,  con- 
fusion, poor  service,  and  pecuniary  loss  might  become  an 
anticipated  result.  But  nothing  of  the  kind  appeared, 
but  rather  the  precision  in  movement  of  a  military  camp, 
and  the  exact  economy  of  a  thrifty  enterprise.  The  duties 
of  the  workers  were  definitely  assigned,  requiring  careful 
distributions  in  form  of  work  and  a  time  of  doing  it,  and 
a  careless  hand  or  a  moment  out  of  time  was  instantly 
noted  by  the  sharp  mind  which  ordered  all.  Labor  was 
ever  cheerful  and  thorough,  and  there  resulted  a  margin 
of  profit  which  accrued  to  the  advantage  of  the  college  in 
the  time  of  its  extreme  need. 

A  moral  force,  too,  ran  through  all,  for  every  worker 
was  rendering  more  than  a  hireling  service;  he  or  she  was 
made  to  feel  that  his  toil  was  definite  contribution  toward 
laying  the  foundations  on  which  a  future  big  with  bless- 
ings should  be  erected.  Some  of  our  best  students  never 
could  have  completed  their  courses  but  for  the  service 
which  Mrs.  Tracy's  planning  helped  them  to  render;   and 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  57 

many  a  one  has  testified  that  the  economy,  skill,  and  spirit 
of  helpfulness,  learned  from  the  good  lessons  under  the 
wise  leader  of  the  domestic  affairs,  has  been  a  very  valu- 
able part  of  the  education  which  the  college  was  able  to  offer. 
We  may  well  ask  what  other  could  have  done  for  the  col- 
lege what  Mrs.  Tracy  did  in  the  pioneer  days.  President 
Merriman  regarded  her  work  in  these  days  as  of  equal  im- 
portance with  his  own;  and  many  have  thought  that  Mrs. 
Tracy  was  providentially  raised  up,  and,  by  training  in 
rugged  toils  and  many  sorrows,  fitted  for  the  conspicuous 
place  she  was  called  upon  to  occupy.  Her  great  unselfish- 
ness, her  love  for  her  work  rather  than  for  its  pecuniary 
rewards  or  other  emoluments,  also  her  natural  endow- 
ments, permit  us  to  surmise  that,  with  great  modesty 
yet  with  firm  conviction,  she  herself  regarded  herself  as 
one  having  been  "called"  to  her  work  by  the  Divine  Voice 
whose  intimations  she  ever  loved  to  trace.  E.  H.  M. 


When  I  went  to  Ripon  in  1865,  just  in  time  to  take  part 
in  a  public  meeting  in  honor  of  President  Lincoln,  imme- 
diately following  his -assassination,  I  found  an  unusually 
able  though  small  body  of  teachers  in  the  college.  Presi- 
dent Merriman  was  one  of  the  most  incisive  and  instructive 
men  I  ever  met;  Professor  Merrell  was  wise  and  forceful; 
Mrs.  Merrell  was  an  admirable  teacher  of  the  higher  mathe- 
matics; and  Mrs.  Tracy,  whom  years  did  not  seem  to 
afflict,  was  as  young  and  vigorous  as  the  youngest,  and 
seemed  perfectly  competent  to  do  anything  required, 
whether  it  be  to  teach  the  more  ordinary  English  studies, 
or  to  be  the  botanist  of  her  territory,  or  to  be  the  house- 
mother of  all  of  us.  Her  work  went  with  no  noise  or 
friction,  and  it  was  all  thoroughly  done.  Were  there  a 
severe  case  of  sickness,  she  was  trained  nurse  as  well  as 
teacher  and  housekeeper. 


58  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

It  was  my  business  to  teach  the  sciences  as  well  as 
Latin,  but  I  knew  that,  much  as  I  loved  botany,  Mrs. 
Tracy  knew  the  local  flora  better  than  I  did,  and  that  the 
field  and  its  flora  belonged  to  her,  and  I  was  glad  to  go  to 
her  for  her  knowledge  of  species  and  localities. 

It  was  a  great  work  she  did.  She  continued  in  it  with- 
out flagging  until  advanced  years  sapped  even  her  strength. 
It  had  seemed  as  if  that  wiry  frame  and  that  temper  would 
defy  years.  But  that  God  does  not  allow.  Her  purpose 
was  to  fill  up  life  to  the  limit  with  usefulness  and  to  teach 
the  true  Christian  spirit  to  her  pupils.  They  honored  and 
loved  her,  and  so  did  we  who  were  her  associates. 

William  Hayes  Ward. 

The  Independent,  130  Fulton  Street,  N.  Y., 
November  15,  1907. 


Mrs.  Tracy  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  I 
have  ever  known.  Her  leading  characteristic  —  next  to 
her  marked  intelligence,  which  all  recognized  —  seemed 
to  me  to  be  integrity,  with  sincerity.  No  one  who  knew 
her  well  could  for  a  moment  think,  of  her  as  capable  of 
insincerity,  or  as  occupying  an  uncertain,  misleading,  or 
"politic"  position.  The  compass  points  to  its  pole  no 
more  surely  or  faithfully  than  did  Mrs.  Tracy's  mind  turn 
toward  truth,  righteousness,  and  justice.  Her  mental  con- 
ception of  things  and  her  conduct  always  kept  step. 

Another  conspicuous  characteristic  that  impressed  me 
as  her  consistency  and  poise,  both  in  opinions  and  in 
action.  Her  mind  was  well  balanced;  her  conclusions 
were  not  distorted  by  prejudice,  pride,  passion,  or  the 
demands  of  conventionalities.  Her  views  on  a  variety 
of  subjects  would  "square  up"  and  fit  into  each  other  as 
perfectly  as  those  of  any  person  I  ever  knew. 


MIDDLE   COLLEGE    IN   THE  SIXTIES 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  59 

Persistency,  or  perseverance,  was  another  of  her  marked 
characteristics.  The  mental  machinery  that  controlled 
her  daily  conduct  moved  on  as  steadily  and  as  firmly  as 
the  wheels  of  a  trusty  clock;  and  the  hours,  or  periods, 
for  special  duties  in  her  life  rung  out  as  promptly  and  as 
clearly  as  the  strokes  of  cathedral  bells.  Perhaps  a  clock 
is  a  poor  illustration  of  her  perseverance.  To  the  mind 
of  a  physiologoist,  her  busy  life  suggested  the  behavior  of 
strong  and  healthy  heart  that  beats  firmly  and  regularly 
from  the  birth  until  the  death  of  its  possessor. 

Still  another  striking  characteristic  of  Mrs.  Tracy  was 
genuine  faith, —  an  abiding  assurance  that  the  things  that 
ought  to  be  will  be  in  due  time,  though  the  present  evi- 
dence be  obscure  to  ordinary  vision.  She  knew  in  whom 
and  in  what  she  believed,  and  she  could  always  give  a 
reason  for  the  hope  that  was  in  her.  Therefore  she  was 
never  buffeted  or  staggered  by  the  winds  of  unreasonable 
sentiment  nor  by  the  waves  and  tides  of  passing  fashions 
or  cults. 

Insight,  which  is  akin  to  faith  —  that  is,  an  ability  to 
see  things  quickly,  not  only  by  observation,  but  by  logical 
processes,  by  induction  or  by  deduction  —  was  conspic- 
uous in  her  life.  She  perceived  things  so  quickly  and 
so  definitely  that  some  people  would  call  it  instinct. 
Others  might  think  it  a  kind  of  clairvoyance;  but  it  was, 
in  her  case,  the  natural  child  of  intelligence  and  integrity. 

She  was  a  better  practical  psychologist  than  are  many 
writers  in  that  field  of  science.  She  understood  human 
nature  as  few  people  fathom  it.  She  knew  what  boys  and 
girls  are  likely  to  think  and  do.  She  knew  why  they  think 
and  act  as  is  their  custom.  She  always  recognized  the 
fact  that  not  until  well  advanced  in  years  will  human 
beings  cease  "to  do  childish  things."  But  she  had  no 
use  for  silliness  in  adults. 


60  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

In  the  matter  of  college  regulations  and  in  cases  of  inves- 
tigation and  of  discipline,  she  had  a  remarkable  discerning 
and  judicial  mind.  In  cases  of  discouragement  or  of  fail- 
ure on  the  part  of  students,  and  particularly  in  cases  of 
illness,  she  saw  more  of  the  factors  entering  into  the  diffi- 
culty, and  estimated  their  respective  values  more  clearly 
and  in  better  proportion,  than  many  professional  physi- 
cians in  their  study  of  their  patients.  She  would  have 
made  a  remarkable  physician  or  surgeon. 

But  she  was  a  remarkable  teacher  instead,  and  also 
an  executive  of  high  order.  She  was  one  of  those  charac- 
ters whose  memory  we  cherish  with  increasing  apprecia- 
tion. Her  life,  in  the  lives  of  those  she  influenced,  —  a 
beneficent  and  a  multiplying  force, —  goes  on  and  on 
through  the  passing  centuries.  Lyman  B.  Sperry. 

Oberlin,  Ohio, 

December,  1907. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  61 

VI 

MRS.   TRACY   AS   I   KNEW  HER 


"In  all  her  religion,  and  in  all  her  action  of  relation  towards 
God,  she  had  a  strange  evenness  and  untroubled  passage,  sliding 
toward  her  ocean  of  God  and  of  infinity  with  a  certain  and  silent 
motion." — Jeremy  Taylor. 


Mrs.  Tracy's  life,  from  1871  on  for  several  years,  was  the 
regular,  unvarying  routine  of  the  teacher,  and  the  monoto- 
nous round  of  the  manager  of  the  domestic  affairs  of  the 
college,  diversified  by  an  occasional  visit  to  her  old  home 
in  the  East,  and  frequent  visits  to  ber  beloved  son,  Dr. 
James  Horace  Tracy,  and  family,  at  Escanaba,  Michigan. 
So  quiet  and  uneventful  was  her  life  from  an  objective 
point  of  view,  that  it  would  be  like  a  "twice-told  tale" 
to  recount  it  in  detail.  Written  from  the  subjective  side, 
it  would  be  teeming  with  interest,  for  her  inner  life  was 
one  of  remarkable  richness  and  fullness,  but  we  have  not, 
alas,  the  data  for  this.  The  few  incidents  of  importance 
were  the  death  of  her  mother  at  Jackson,  Pennsylvania, 
April  5,  1871;  that  of  her  father  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eighty-eight,  February  17,  1882,  at  Jackson,  Pennsylvania; 
and  hardest  blow  of  all,  the  sudden  death  of  her  only  son, 
Dr.  James  Horace  Tracy,  December  6,  1891,  at  Escanaba, 
Michigan. 

Since  my  own  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Tracy  began  in 
1871,  and  continued  in  a  warm  and  unbroken  friendship 
through  the  years  of  my  college  life,  1871-1877,  and  in  most 
intimate  comradship  from  my  marriage  in  1880  down  to  the 
day  of  her  death,  I  have  thought  that  the  series  of  impres- 
sions made  upon  my  mind  by  contact  with  so  marked  a 


62  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

personality  might  convey  a  truer  picture  of  this  part  of 
her  life  than  any  dry  narration  of  a  few  meager  facts. 

When  I  entered  Ripon  College  in  the  fall  of  1871,  Mrs. 
Tracy  was  then  in  the  very  prime  of  her  powers.  She  was 
a  frequent  visitor  at  the  home  of  Professor  and  Mrs.  Merrell, 
where  I  boarded  the  first  two  years,  but  in  my  youth  and 
inexperience  I  fear  I  was  more  struck  at  first  by  her  oddities 
and  idiosyncrasies  than  by  her  real  worth.  I  was  never 
in  any  of  her  classes,  except  botany  in  the  spring  term  of 
1872.  She  was  a  bright  and  enthusiastic  teacher  in  that, 
and  I  enjoyed  my  term's  work  under  her  very  much; 
but  with  my  music  as  an  extra  study,  I  had  not  time  to 
go  very  deeply  into  the  analysis  of  flowers,  her  great 
hobby,  so  while  I  made  a  good  standing,  I  did  not  ingratiate 
myself  into  her  most  .intimate  circle.  So  great  was  her 
passion  for  analyzing  flowers,  that  she  once  told  me  that 
she  frequently  caught  herself  analyzing  the  flowers  on  the 
ladies'  bonnets  in  church,  and  was  only  recalled  to  the 
absurdity  of  what  she  was  doing  by  finding  so  many 
essential  parts  missing.  But  the  patient  investigation  of 
plants  throughout  the  years  bore  fruit  in  March,  1889,  in 
the  publication  of  a  catalogue  of  "Plants  Growing  without 
Cultivation  in  Ripon  and  the  Near  Vicinity."  Mrs. 
Tracy  was  assisted  in  the  compilation  of  this  pamphlet 
by  some  of  her  students,  and  it  is  the  fullest  catalogue  of 
local  flora  up  to  date.  Every  plant  was  gathered  by 
herself,  or  seen  in  a  fresh  condition,  and  verified  by  reference 
to  Gray's  and  Wood's  botanies,  and  the  ferns  by  reference 
to  Eaton's  "  Ferns  of  North  America."  In  case  of  doubtful 
specimens,  she  even  took  pains  to  correspond  with  the 
authors  of  the  aforesaid  books. 

In  the  wonderful  season  of  revivals,  which  continued 
through  the  six  years  of  my  stay  at  college,  I  learned  to 
have  the  deepest  respect  and  admiration  for  Mrs.  Tracy's 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  63 

strong  Christian  character.  These  revivals  were  under 
the  able  and  spiritual  leadership  of  the  Rev.  L.  J.  White, 
pastor  of  the  Ripon  Congregational  Church,  assisted  by 
different  well-known  evangelists.  Mrs.  Tracy  and  other 
members  of  the  faculty  ably  seconded  Mr.  White  in  his 
endeavors.  The  Tuesday  evening  college  prayer  meeting 
was  made  a  powerful  ally  to  the  church  militant,  and  many 
students  were  converted.  The  revivals  were  not  times  of 
mere  emotional  excitement,  but  deep,  quiet,  and  rich  in 
results.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  manifest  in  great  power, 
and  the  Word  was  expounded  from  pulpit  and  college 
rostrum  with  such  clearness  and  persuasive  force  that 
constant  additions  of  those  who  were  saved  were  made 
to  the  churches.  At  one  communion,  seventy-five  joined 
the  Congregational  Church,  fully  fifty  on  profession  of  faith. 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  at  this  time  matron  of  the  domestic 
department,  and  was  teaching  her  full  quota  of  studies, 
Algebra,  Arithmetic,  English  Literature,  Composition,  and 
Botany;  but  though  the  duties  were  many  and  arduous, 
she  seemed  always  to  have  "all  the  time  there  was"  for 
helping  individual  students  with  their  lessons,  or  with 
perplexities  of  any  kind,  or  soul  problems.  Then  she  was 
always  at  her  post  at  the  college  and  church  prayer  meetings, 
at  the  church  services,  both  the  extra  and  the  usual  ones. 
I  never  knew  her  to  have  even  a  headache  or  indisposition 
of  any  kind  during  those  years,  though  she  frequently 
arose  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  get  her  bakings  for 
her  large  family  done. 

Those  of  us  who  were  privileged  to  hear  her  remarkable 
testimonies  and  prayers  during  the  revival  meetings  re- 
ceived indelible  impressions  of  faith,  childlike  trust,  and 
confident,  triumphant  hope  in  the  eternal  verities,  which 
helped  to  make  the  way  plainer  to  many  of  us.  And 
numerous  letters  from  old  students  testify  abundantly  to 


64  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

the  power  of  her  personality  upon  theirs,  and  the  help  some 
timely  word  of  hers  was  to  them  in  time  of  need. 

It  was  in  these  earlier  years  that  I  was  associated  with 
Mrs.  Tracy,  Mrs.  Julia  Hosford  Merrell,  and  other  ladies, 
in  a  movement  that  swept  over  the  entire  country  in  the 
early  seventies,  the  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  against 
the  saloons.  The  ladies  met  together  at  the  house  of  one 
of  their  members  for  prayer,  and  then  with  their  Bibles  in 
their  hands  marched  down  and  stood  in  front  of  one 
saloon  after  another  and  held  a  brief  meeting  before  each. 
There  was  Scripture  reading,  singing,  and  much  praying, 
whether  any  exhortations  I  do  not  now  recall.  I  was 
one  of  the  young  lady  students  who  helped  about  the 
singing,  and  I  can  remember  how  strange  it  seemed  to  me 
to  be  doing  such  an  unconventional  thing.  But  the 
prayers  that  were  offered  by  these  godly  women  down  on 
their  knees  on  the  dirty  sidewalk,  their  absolute  sincerity 
and  tremendous  earnestness  made  a  profound  impression. 
There  was  always  a  great  crowd  gathered,  of  course,  as  the 
meetings  were  in  progress,  but  we  were  never  subjected  to 
the  slightest  rudeness  on  the  part  of  the  saloon-keepers,  or 
by  the  crowd.  I  remember  the  interested  but  somewhat 
defiant  attitude  of  one  Harry  De  Vere,  a  saloon-keeper, 
a  man  of  magnificent  physique,  who  looked  like  a  lord 
fallen  from  some  high  estate.  Mrs.  Tracy,  slight,  erect, 
with  arms  folded  under  the  heavy  gray  blanket  shawl 
which  she  wore  so  many  years,  and  head  surmounted  by 
the  plain  black  velvet  bonnet  tied  with  a  black  ribbon  bow 
under  the  chin,  was  quite  a  contrast  in  her  plain  attire  to 
Harry's  somewhat  flashy  elegance,  but  there  was  a  solemn 
intensity  in  her  eye  that  made  her  not  unlike  some  prophetic 
sybil.  Harry  De  Vere  shortly  after  left  Ripon,  and  later 
changed  his  business,  whether  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
crusade,  it  would  be  hard  to  say,  but  He  who  marketh  the 


CLARISSA  TUCKER   TRACY  65 

sparrow's  fall,  and  putteth  the  tears  of  the  widows  and 
orphans  into  His  bottle,  surely  heeded  those  earnest  prayers, 
and  answered  them,  though  in  ways  unknown  to  us. 

In  1874  I  entered  Middle  College,  and  for  three  college 
years  it  was  my  home.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  I  really 
knew  Mrs.  Tracy.  Her  abrupt  ways  and  sharp  voice  at 
first  rather  disconcerted  me,  and  just  at  first  I  was  a  little 
bit  afraid  of  her;  but  no  one  could  live  long  in  the  same 
building  with  her  without  finding  out  how  really  kind  and 
good  she  was.  I  soon  penetrated  the  outer  crust  of  man- 
nerism, and  learned  to  love  her  dearly,  and  to  thoroughly 
enjoy  these  very  mannerisms. 

For  a  time  she  was  obliged  to  assume  the  duties  of 
preceptress  along  with  all  her  other  duties,  and  the  masterly 
way  in  which  she  handled  all  these  complex  and  some- 
times conflicting  responsibilities  was  something  to  remem- 
ber. Upon  assuming  this  extra  responsibility,  she  called 
the  girls  all  together  in  the  old  sitting-room  of  the  Middle 
College,  and  gave  us  a  short  talk  upon  our  responsibilities 
and  threw  us  upon  our  honor.  Like  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby, 
she  had  large  faith  in  the  goodness  of  human  nature,  and 
trusting  us,  found  us  worthy  of  trust.  In  those  days 
there  were  numerous  and  very  strict  regulations;  but  the 
order  and  conscientious  keeping  of  rules  while  Mrs.  Tracy 
had  charge  was  well-nigh  perfect.  She  never  went  around 
spying  upon  the  girls,  listening  at  keyholes,  and  snooping 
around  in  the  halls,  when  she  thought  they  were  going  to 
have  a  good  time  on  the  sly,  consequently  the  girls  vied 
with  one  another  in  maintaining  a  quiet  and  orderly  house, 
and  took  pride  in  meeting  her  expectations. 

Neither  was  she  afraid  to  join  in  our  fun.  One  time, 
when  all  were  in  the  sitting-room  laughing  and  making 
merry,  as  girls  will,  and  had  perhaps  become  a  little  hilar- 
ious, she  came  into  the  room  in  her  abstracted  way,  to  see 


66  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

whether  all  was  as  it  should  be.  One  of  the  girls  had  sat 
down  at  the  piano  and  started  the  chorus  of  a  rollicking, 
laughing  song.  The  jolly  "ha-ha-ha"  had  been  so  seem- 
ingly spontaneous  and  so  contagious,  that  the  girls  were 
in  the  full  swing  of  the  chorus,  and  many  in  helpless  gales 
of  laughter,  as  Mrs.  Tracy  entered.  Cachinations  in  all 
keys  and  of  all  kinds  and  conditions  of  tones  rilled  the 
air.  She  stood  surveying  the  scene  for  a  moment,  waiting 
for  the  uproar  to  cease,  then  herself  was  caught  by  the  con- 
tagion, and  laughing  heartily  with  us,  hastily  retired  from 
the  scene  without  comment. 

She  was  equal  to  any  occasion.  Another  time,  some 
naughty  boys  put  a  barrel  of  fire-crackers  at  the  head  of 
the  stairs  in  Middle  College.  They  had  the  fuse  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  explosion  should  take  place  about  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the  young  ladies  were  deep 
in  their  studies,  or  getting  ready  to  retire.  The  fusillade 
in  the  quiet  of  the  evening  hour  and  in  the  echoing  walls  of 
the  long  hall  was  something  terrific.  Many  of  us  thought 
that  the  building  was  about  to  fall  about  our  ears,  so  we 
rushed  out  into  the  hall.  Mrs.  Tracy  was  there,  quiet, 
calm,  cool,  and  collected,  though,  like  all  the  rest,  a  bit 
disheveled  in  appearance.  One  young  lady  was  so  fright- 
ened that  she  went  into  hysterics  and  crawled  clear  under 
her  bed,  crying,  "Come  on,  girls,  the  devil  is  out  in  the  hall 
flapping  his  wings.  He'll  get  you,  sure."  But  Mrs. 
Tracy  was  equal  even  to  this,  and  helped  us  to  calm  "poor 
little  Nell,"  and  by  ten  o'clock  the  whole  house  was  serene 
and  quiet. 

On  another  occasion,  she  taught  a  number  of  us  a  most 
salutary  lesson.  The  girls  were  wont  to  gather  in  my  room 
at  the  twilight  hour  for  music,  as  I  had  my  own  piano. 
On  the  floor,  in  the  deep  window-seats,  in  chairs,  on  the 
table  even,  they  would  pile  around  and  call  for  music. 


O 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  67 

One  particular  night  we  were  so  engaged,  when  somebody 
discovered  that  the  fire  was  out.  I  volunteered  to  inter- 
view Mrs.  Tracy  and  beg  for  coals  from  her  fine  glowing 
base-burner.  But  I  reckoned  without  my  host.  Mrs. 
Tracy  was  sitting  beside  her  warm  fire,  toasting  her  feet, 
and  working  a  problem  in  algebra,  and  to  my  proffered 
request  gave  a  decisive  and  abrupt  negative.  As  I  turned 
with  the  empty  fire-pan  in  my  hand  and  started  to  leave, 
she  arose,  and  said  in  her  incisive  way,  "Wait  a  minute. 
I'll  go  show  you  how  to  build  a  fire,  then  you  won't  have 
to  use  a  fire-pan  again."  So  we  went  back  to  my  room. 
If  Mrs.  Tracy  was  surprised  to  see  such  a  roomful  of  girls, 
she  did  not  show  it,  but  calmly  went  to  work,  and  then  and 
there  gave  such  an  object-lesson  in  the  art  of  fire-building 
as  few  of  us  ever  forgot.  There  was  muffled  mirth  and 
subdued  giggling  at  my  expense  and  at  Mrs.  Tracy's 
various  orders — "A  wisp  of  paper;  a  sliver  of  kindling; 
some  nice  dry  sticks;  now  apply  your  match" —  but  if  any 
of  us  thereafter  were  tempted  to  take  a  short  cut  to  a 
desired  end  at  the  expense  of  a  neighbor,  or  to  do  a  thing 
in  the  laziest  way,  we  would  recall  Mrs.  Tracy's  terse  dic- 
tum, "The  quickest  way  to  have  a  good  fire  is  to  build  it 
yourself." 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  the  soul  of  punctuality,  and  doubtless 
this  very  habit  of  being  exactly  on  time  in  everything 
enabled  her  to  accomplish  so  much.  Our  hours  were  all 
strictly  marked  off.  The  rising  bell  rang  at  5:30  o'clock, 
a.  m.,  and  we  were  expected  to  be  on  time  at  the  early 
breakfast  at  6:30.*  Five  minutes  of  grace  were  allowed 
for  the  assembling  of  the  large  number  of  boarders.  Mrs. 
Tracy  always  stood,  erect  and  vigilant,  at  her  place  at  the 
central  table,  for  exactly  five  minutes  by  the  clock;  then 
bowing  her  head,  she  uttered  a  brief  but  perfectly  audible 

*  These  hours  were  afterwards  changed  to  later  ones. 


68  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

blessing,  or  bade  some  professor  do  it,  and  then  all  sat 
down. 

Now,  in  those  days  we  had  wood  stoves  in  our  rooms, 
and  frequently  our  fires  would  be  out  by  morning,  so  that 
it  took  all  the  grace  and  grit  a  girl  possessed,  and  some- 
times more,  to  leave  her  warm  nest  and  get  up  and  dress 
in  the  stinging  cold,  but  fortunately  it  was  before  the  days 
of  the  shirt-waist  buttoning  in  the  back.  Gay-flowered 
wrappers,  made  a  la  princesse,  with  lace  at  neck  and  sleeve, 
and  immense  buttons  up  and  down  the  front,  were  then  in 
the  fashion,  and  we  were  allowed  to  wear  these  to  break- 
fast. So  frequently  in  that  five  minutes  of  grace,  a  string 
of  girls  might  be  seen,  a  highly  amusing  spectacle,  rushing 
down  the  narrow  stairway,  fastening  the  last  button  just  as 
they  reached  the  dining-room  door  with  its  glass  window. 
If  all  were  standing,  they  would  enter  and  flutter  to  their 
places,  with  Mrs.  Tracy's  eye  upon  them.  If  too  late,  they 
preferred  to  forage  for  breakfast  some  other  way,  or  go 
without  rather  than  run  the  gauntlet  of  that  piercing 
glance.  After  breakfast,  all  remained  seated,  while  Mrs. 
Tracy  or  some  of  the  professors  led  in  family  prayers. 
There  were  Scripture  reading,  prayer,  and  a  stanza  or 
two  of  a  hymn,  then  all  dispersed  and  the  real  business  of 
the  day  began. 

Though  a  strict  disciplinarian  and  of  a  dignity  that  de- 
manded respect  and  obedience,  Mrs.  Tracy  was  also  most 
motherly  and  approachable,  and  especially  if  you  were  sick 
or  in  trouble.  She  was  always  mothering  somebody,  and 
no  picture  at  this  time  would  be  complete  without  the 
companion  picture  of  Alice  Constance  Adams,  who  for 
years  was  Mrs.  Tracy's  good  right  hand.  Through  the 
strenuous  years  of  this  part  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  life,  Alice  was 
the  devoted,  untiring,  ministering  spirit.  Efficient,  un- 
selfish, quick  as  a  flash,  her  thoughtful  affection  and  care 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  69 

surely  was  no  small  factor  in  helping  Mrs.  Tracy  to  conserve 
her  forces.  To  Mrs.  Tracy,  Alice  was  like  an  own  daughter, 
and  she  took  great  pride  in  her  education,  helping  her 
through  college  as  she  did  others. 

In  the  summer  of  1881,  Alice  accompanied  Mrs.  Tracy 
on  a  long  and  delightful  trip  to  the  East.  Mrs.  Tracy 
wrote  characteristic  and  very  interesting  letters  home  to 
the  Ripon  Press.*  They  visited  Macnsfield,  Ohio;  Wind- 
sor, New  York;  Scranton,  Honesdale,  and  Jackson,  Penn- 
sylvania; New  York  City,  Albany,  and  Clifton  Springs, 
New  York;  and  after  a  brief  stay  at  Niagara  Falls,  came 
home  by  the  way  of  the  Lakes  from  Detroit,  Michigan.  In 
June,  1884,  Alice  was  married  to  Mr.  William  F.  Meyer, 
in  the  parlor  of  old  Middle  College,  and  it  is  pleasant  to 
recall  Mrs.  Tracy's  happy  and  beaming  face,  as,  hostess 
of  the  occasion,  she  dispensed  delightful  hospitality. 

While  Mrs.  Tracy  cared  for  intellectual  things,  yet  she 
took  pride  in  her  culinary  skill,  and  it  certainly  was  great, 
as  any  one  of  her  old  boys  or  girls  could  testify.  Our  food 
in  the  college  was  uniformly  good  and  abundant,  well 
cooked  and  well  served.  At  Thanksgiving  and  on  Christ- 
mas Day,  before  the  time  of  Yuletide  vacations,  most  ele- 
gant dinners  were  served  in  the  old  dining-hall  to  faculty 
and  students,  and  these  were  times  of  great  merry-making. 
After  the  bounteous  dinner  of  turkey,  done  to  a  turn,  and 
vegetables  galore,  and  chicken  pie,  all  piping  hot  under 
Mrs.  Tracy's  vigilant  superintendence,  topped  off  with 
mince  and  pumpkin  pies,  for  which  she  was  justly  famous, 
we  adjourned  to  the  parlor  and  sitting-room  and  played 
games.  Mrs.  Tracy  joined  in  these  with  the  utmost  zest, 
and  to  the  last  of  her  life  had  this  healthy  normal  appetite 
for  play. 

*  Time  and  space  forbid  our  giving  any  quotations  from  these  letters,  save 
the  one  about  the  Mormon  leader,  Joseph  Smith,  which  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 


70  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

At  Commencement  time  she  was  in  her  glory,  engineer- 
ing the  delightful  collations  which  were  held  between 
Middle  and  West  colleges,  or  on  rainy  days  in  the  old 
dining-hall.  The  regular  family,  varying  from  one  hundred 
to  one  hundred  and  seventy-five,  had  to  be  provided  for, 
also  many  of  the  fathers,  mothers,  sisters,  brothers,  cousins, 
uncles,  and  aunts  of  the  students,  or  other  guests  of  the 
college,  for  the  college  exercised  "hospitality  without 
grudging"  through  all  those  years.  How  she  managed, 
I  do  not  know,  but  certainly  she  did  not  once  absent 
herself  from  any  of  the  Commencement  exercises  on  ac- 
count of  her  manifold  duties,  and  everything  in  dining- 
room  and  kitchen  went  like  clockwork,  and  the  collation, 
without  a  hitch.  As  the  invitation  to  the  collation  was 
very  general,  there  were  ofttimes  two  hundred  people 
served.  In  order  to  prepare  for  these  gala  occasions,  Mrs. 
Tracy  arose  at  four  in  the  morning  and  got  the  cakes  and 
other  things  ready.  Then  she  sat  down  with  the  guests  and 
enjoyed  herself  with  the  rest.  Had  she  not  had  a  most 
faithful  and  capable  co-worker  in  Mr.  P.  S.  Collins  (for 
thirty  years  janitor  in  Ripon  College),  she  could  hardly 
have  been  so  at  her  ease. 

When  I  returned  to  Ripon  in  the  fall  of  1880,  as  the  wife 
of  President  E.  H.  Merrell,  Mrs.  Tracy's  beloved  friend  and 
comrade  of  many  years,  she  received  me  at  once  into  her 
most  intimate  circle.  It  was  a  delightful  privilege  to 
know  her  in  close  personal  intimacy,  but  it  is  not  possible 
to  put  down  in  cold  print  all  that  she  was  to  me  and  mine 
through  the  years,  without  touching  upon  things  that  would 
be  altogether  too  personal  and  sacred  for  the  general  public. 
Sufficient  to  say,  that  I  ever  found  her  a  wise  counselor, 
an  ideal  friend,  loving,  thoughtful,  and  always  ready  to 
share  both  sorrow  and  joy.  She  came  and  went  in  our 
home  as  if  we  were  her  own  kith  and  kin,  and  as  the  children 


CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY  71 

came,  she  took  the  greatest  interest  in  them,  and  they 
loved  her  as  dearly  as  if  she  had  been  really  their  grand- 
mother. What  she  was  to  us  she  was  to  a  large  circle  of 
intimate  friends  in  Ripon:  the  two  families  of  Thompsons, 
the  Uphams,  the  Everhards,  the  Scribners,  the  Harrises, 
the  Duffies,  the  Harwoods,  the  Meyers,  and  many  others. 
She  was  wont  to  drop  into  their  homes  also  in  a  perfectly 
informal  and  delightfully  familiar  way  for  dinner  or  tea, 
and  make  herself  perfectly  at  home  and  always  welcome. 
In  times  of  sickness  or  domestic  stress,  what  a  host  she 
was  then !  She  would  not  wait  to  be  sent  for,  but  seemed 
to  scent  our  trouble  from  afar,  and  hastened  to  the  rescue. 
She  would  come  in,  and  without  asking  what  there  was  to 
do,  quietly  see  for  herself  what  there  was  to  be  done  and 
then  do  it,  whether  it  was  bread-making,  or  bathing  the 
brow,  or  even  the  feet  of  the  restless  patient,  tossing  and 
burning  in  all  the  discomfort  of  a  high  fever.  On  one 
occasion,  even,  I  remember  how  she  insisted  on  making 
a  batch  of  cookies  for  the  children,  when  both  the  cook 
and  I  were  disabled.  She  was  ready  to  bestow  even  the 
not  strictly  necessary  service,  if  thereby  she  could  give 
pleasure  or  heart's  ease. 

REMINISCENCES   OF   MRS.   TRACY 

I  went  to  Ripon  College  in  the  autumn  of  1864.  One  of 
my  first  studies  was  preparatory  Latin.  The  department 
was  then  in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Tracy.  My  first  acquaint- 
ance with  her,  then,  was  in  the  class-room.  I  can  recall 
every  feature  of  her  keen  face,  and  the  penetrating  tones  of 
her  voice.     She  was  the  most  exacting  teacher  I  ever  met. 

I  had  studied  a  little  Latin  in  a  public  school,  and  had 
some  facility  in  translation;  but  with  no  groundwork.  I 
can  now  hear,  as  I  write,  Mrs.  Tracy's  voice  as  she  said, 


72  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

after  a  fair  attempt  at  reading  and  a  poor  one  at  grammar, 
"Holt,  I  don't  see  how  you  can  translate  so  well  and  know 
so  little." 

Her  drill  in  grammar  was  most  painstaking  and  thor- 
ough. After  a  lapse  of  almost  half  a  century,  thanks  to 
Mrs.  Tracy,  I  can  repeat  the  twenty-six  prepositions  which 
govern  the  accusative,  without  a  slip.  When  later  our 
class  passed  into  the  hands  of  Professor  William  Hayes 
Ward,  we  knew  Latin  grammar,  and  were  ready  to  be 
pushed  to  the  limit  by  that  splendid  scholar. 

After  I  became  an  inmate  of  the  Middle  College,  my 
relations  with  Mrs.  Tracy  became  closer.  I  had  to  work 
for  some  of  my  college  expenses,  and  Dr.  Merrell  turned 
me  over  to  Mrs.  Tracy,  who  had  charge  of  the  culinary 
department.  I  did  the  marketing  under  her  direction,  and 
learned  the  routine  of  "roast  beef,  boiled  beef,  and  meat 
pie."  It  was  also  one  of  my  duties  to  keep  track  of  the 
disposal  of  the  meats  among  the  tables,  so  that  the  coveted 
"meat  pies"  got  to  the  proper  table  in  rotation.  This 
gave  me  a  chance  to  see  her  "rob  the  roast."  She  did  it 
well,  as  Ida  Morley,  Emma  Ferguson,  and  other  girls  who 
"helped"  in  the  kitchen  can  testify. 

I  was  also  much  impressed  with  the  genial  side  of  Mrs. 
Tracy's  life,  when  she  could  relax  from  the  stern  task  of 
disciplinarian  over  a  bevy  of  as  eager,  wholesome,  active 
girls  as  ever  vexed  a  martinet.  A  gracious  smile  took  the 
place  of  the  wrinkles  of  discipline,  and  she  was  a  very 
enjoyable  companion  and  friend. 

Another  thing  about  her  was  her  absolute  fairness.  I 
recall  in  one  examination  she  had  made  a  mistake  in  mark- 
ing. It  was  in  my  own  case.  Her  attention  was  called 
to  it,  and  without  hesitation  she  made  the  necessary  cor- 
rection, recalling  that  the  examination  had  been  better  than 
her  mark  indicated. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  73 

Her  simple,  unaffected  piety  was  remarkable.  She 
was  strict,  she  was  severe  often;  but  when  she  spoke 
simply,  womanly,  in  the  prayer  circle,  we  knew  the  words 
came  from  a  heart  surrendered  to  Jesus  Christ  her  Lord. 

I  owe  much  to  Mrs.  Tracy,  and  I  gratefully  make 
acknowledgment  of  the  debt. 

W.  S.  Holt,  1870.* 


I  am  having  my  freshman  rhetoric  class  write  descrip- 
tions of  "mental  states"  just  now,  and  they  do  not  always 
seem  to  remember  ever  having  had  any;  and  yet  how  vivid 
even  now  is  mine  of  that  moment  in  the  algebra  class  when 
I  was  surreptitiously  imparting  a  most  important  bit  of 
news  to  Mr.  MacNeill,  when  suddenly  I  became  conscious 
that  the  whole  atmosphere  was  heavy  with  silence,  and 
glanced  up  to  find  myself  pinioned  by  Mrs.  Tracy's  eyes, 
so  full  of  mingled  sternness,  disgust,  and  amusement. 

Do  you  remember  our  delight  when  rumor  reached  us 
that  a  rabid  exponent  of  woman's  rights  had  asked  Mrs. 
Tracy  if  she  did  not  often  feel  put  down,  sat  upon,  etc., 
because  she  was  a  mere  woman,  and  Mrs.  Tracy,  in  her 
characteristic  manner,  had  promptly  responded,  "Well,  no, 
I  never  noticed  it."  The  idea  of  any  one's  trying  to  "sit 
down"  upon  Mrs.  Tracy  filled  us  with  unspeakable  delight. 

What  a  tower  of  strength  she  was  if  things  were  going 
wrong  anywhere!  How  quick  to  make  us  feel  that  life  was 
duty  and  privilege!  Another  mental  picture  I  retain  of 
her  is  among  a  stream  of  us  coming  out  from  some  service 
from  the  church,  where  pleased  comment  was  being  made 
on  the  recent  conversion  of  one  of  our  number.  Her  face 
was  full  of  pleasure,  but  her  only  words  of  comment  were, 

*  Mr.  Holt  is  now  Field  Secretary  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Mis- 
sions for  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  works  in  Alaska,  Washington,  North  Idaho, 
Oregon,  California,  and  Nevada, —  a  good-sized  field. 


74  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

"This  will  mean  better  lessons,  too."     Truly  her  memory 
is  a  rich  legacy  to  us  all. 

Caroline  W.  Daniels,  1882. 
Drury  College,  Springfield,  Mo. 
College  Days,  January,  1906. 


How  well  I  remember  an  afternoon  twenty-two  years 
ago,  during  my  first  term  at  Ripon!  Mrs.  Tracy  found  the 
house  where  I  was  rooming  and  spent  half  an  hour  visiting 
with  me.  She  seemed  to  know  that  I  was  timid  and  lonely 
and  needed  a  little  friendship.  I  hope  she  knows  how 
much  good  it  did  me,  and  how  I've  loved  her  ever  since. 

Arthur  E.  Leonard,  1891. 
Congregational  Church, 
Columbus,  Wis. 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  a  sincere  Christian,  that  was  as  un- 
doubted as  her  ability  to  teach  algebra  or  botany.  She 
disliked  affectation,  and  never  lacked  the  courage  to  re- 
prove it.  One  day  at  her  table,  in  the  dining-room,  some 
young  ladies  were  speaking  about  the  pump  that  was  run 
by  the  windmill,  back  of  the  Middle  building,  and  the  old 
tin  cup  that  we  all  drank  out  of  in  the  good  old  days,  when 
the  microbe  was  an  unknown  quantity.  One  young  lady 
said,  "I  never  drink  out  of  that  tin  cup.  I  always  take  a 
glass  with  me  when  I  go  to  the  pump."  Mrs.  Tracy  looked 

up  and  said,  "Miss ,  there  are  lots  of  nicer  girls  than 

you  that  have  drunk  out  of  that  cup." 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  a  strict  Sabbatarian.  One  time  in  the 
botany  class  she  told  about  a  young  minister  who  drove 
over  to  Dartford  to  preach  one  Sunday,  and  on  his  way 
back  he  picked  by  the  roadside  a  flower  that  was  new  to 
him,  and  the  same  afternoon  brought  it  to  her  to  find  out 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  75 

what  it  was.  What  happened  she  didn't  say.  The  story 
stopped  there,  but  she  smiled,  and  we  inferred  that  the 
young  minister  never  came  to  her  again  for  information  in 
regard  to  botany  on  Sunday. 

Ripon  College  was  indeed  fortunate  to  have  at  its  start 
Mrs.  Tracy  as  a  member  of  the  faculty  and  matron  of  the 
young  ladies.  A  noble  character,  a  good  teacher,  a  strict 
disciplinarian,  an  able  administrator,  a  faithful  friend,  and 
let  us  not  forget  she  also  was  a  good  mother.  May  Ripon 
College  never  lack  teachers  and  students  to  carry  on  the 
good  work  Mrs.  Tracy  began,  is  the  wish  of 

Yours  truly, 
Flushing,  New  York,  E.  P.  Martin. 

November  20,  1907. 

Mrs.  Tracy  read  the  poem  that  follows  at  one  of  the 
Ripon  College  Commencements: 

MY  DEAR  OLD  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 

My  dear  old  boys  and  girls  of  yore, 
I  'm  with  you  at  your  feast  to-night ; 

I've  known  and  loved  you  all  before, 
And  claim  this  privilege  my  right. 

Though  flesh  from  you  be  sundered  far. 

The  willing  spirit,  swift  of  wing, 
Shall  fly  and  push  your  doors  ajar, 

And  with  you  talk  and  laugh  and  sing. 

Sweet  memories  of  golden  hours 
Come  trooping  in  while  we  are  here, 

And  paint  for  us  the  woodland  flowers, 
Which  gave  to  us  such  joy  and  cheer. 

The  Campus  over  which  we  walked, 
In  thoughtful  mood,  or  blithe  or  gay, 

As  of  our  hopes  and  plans  we  talked, 
Looms  up  as  in  the  olden  day. 


76  CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY 

Mem'ry  shall  paint,  with  magic  skill, 
The  scenes  which  we  all  love  so  well ; 

Their  view  with  joy  each  heart  shall  thrill, 
And  some  long  secret  tales  shall  tell. 

The  student's  weekly  hour  for  prayer, 
In  the  old  Chapel  or  the  new, 

Whose  blessed  power  we  still  may  share, 
To  keep  us  good  and  pure  and  true. 

And  the  old  class-rooms  where  we  met, 
With  students  dull  and  students  bright; 

Those  days  we  never  can  forget 
Till  earthly  things  are  lost  to  sight. 

The  room  where  we,  in  merry  mood, 
Gathered  at  morning,  noon,  and  night, 

To  take  our  simple,  daily  food, 

Just  now  comes  plainly  to  our  sight. 


I  cannot  longer  with  you  stay, 

For  soon  I  take  my  homeward  flight, 

But  I  will  ever  for  you  pray; 

God  bless  us  one  and  all, —  Good-night. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  77 

VII 

IN   HER   DECLINING    YEARS 

"But  the  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light,  that  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." —  Proverbs  iv.  18. 

Through  the  eighties,  Mrs.  Tracy  continued  at  her  post. 
She  was  still  nominal  head  of  the  domestic  department, 
though  since  some  time  in  the  seventies  there  had  been  a 
matron,  to  see  to  the  kitchen  and  dining-room,  and  to 
relieve  Mrs.  Tracy  of  the  brunt  of  the  cares  there. 

So  the  even  tenor  of  her  life  ran  on,  and  then  suddenly, 
like  a  clap  of  thunder  out  of  a  clear  sky,  the  bolt  fell. 
Sunday,  December  6,  1891,  a  telegram  came  to  Mr.  Mer- 
rell  from  Mrs.  Horace  Tracy,  announcing  the  death  of  her 
husband  that  morning.  Mr.  Merrell  had  gone  out  in  the 
country  to  preach,  so  messengers  were  sent  to  have  him 
come  home  early  in  the  afternoon  to  break  the  news  to 
Mrs.  Tracy.  I  went  over  and  went  to  church  and  Sunday- 
school  with  her,  and  stayed  to  dinner  with  her,  and  until 
Mr.  Merrell  came.  She  did  not  suspect  anything  from  my 
doing  so,  as  I  was  accustomed  to  visit  her  in  this  familiar 
way.  When  Mr.  Merrell  broke  the  news  to  her  she  said 
simply,  as  she  knelt,  "Pray."  Though  she  kept  up  with 
marvelous  fortitude,  she  broke  perceptibly  from  that 
time  on,  and  was  never  quite  the  same  afterwards.  She 
went  down  to  supper  as  usual  that  Sunday,  saying  that 
she  would  rather  do  just  as  she  was  accustomed  to  do,  if 
it  would  not  make  the  students  feel  badly  to  have  her  come 
down.  Mr.  Merrell  accompanied  her  to  Escanaba  to  pay 
the  last  sad  rites,  and  friends  meeting  them  at  the  depot 


78  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

said,  "All  Escanaba  is  in  mourning."  Mrs.  Tracy's  self- 
control  through  all  the  trying  ordeal  was  a  wonder,  even 
to  those  who  knew  her  best. 

On  her  return  to  college,  she  resumed  her  work  as  usual, 
and  to  the  casual  glance  all  was  as  it  was  before.  But 
those  who  knew  her  best  knew  that  the  very  springs  of  her 
life  had  been  sapped.  It  was  months  before  she  could 
even  speak  her  beloved  son's  name,  and  then  but  rarely; 
and  she  told  me  a  long,  long  time  afterwards,  that  for 
months  she  never  slept  until  after  three  or  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  she  could  not  weep  for  a  long  time. 
Only  divine  grace  sustained  her.  I  was  with  her  almost 
daily  for  weeks  and  weeks  after  her  bereavement,  and  I 
always  found  her  cheerful,  interested  in  college  and  cur- 
rent events,  ready  to  chat,  bravely  and  unselfishly  putting 
her  own  heartache  in  the  background.  Her  calmness  and 
serenity  might  to  some  seem  like  stoicism,  but  it  was  the 
outcome  of  a  lifetime  of  trust.     She  had  learned 

"In  hours  of  faith, 
That  life  is  ever  Lord  of  Death, 
And  love  can  never  lose  its  own!" 

In  regard  to  a  little  incident  that  occurred  the  first 
lonely  Christmas  after  her  son's  death,  Mrs.  Tracy  wrote 
the  following  little  story  and  sent  it  to  the  Advance  for 
the  Children's  Department. 

"I  wonder  if  any  one  has  a  prettier  Christmas  story  to  tell  than 
I  have?  I  will  give  it;  then  you  will  know.  On  Christmas  morn- 
ing about  ten  o'clock,  a  lady  was  sitting  alone  in  her  room,  thinking 
of  the  Christmas  days  of  long  ago,  when  her  own  dear  children  were 
so  full  of  glee,  and  her  own  heart  was  light  and  glad;  then  of  the 
great  change, —  her  children  gone,  no  more  to  greet  her  on  earth. 

"Just  then  the  sound  of  little  feet  treading  softly  was  heard  in 
the  hall  outside  of  the  door,  and  little  voices  sang  a  sweet  Christ- 
mas hymn.     When  they  finished,  there  was  a  light  tap  on  the  door. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  79 

Being  bidden  to  come  in,  four  girls  and  one  little  boy  came  in,  and 
each  gave  the  lonely  lady  a  kiss  and  a  little  Christmas  present.  So 
her  heart  was  made  light,  and  she  said,  '.God  bless  the  dear  children, 
who  try  to  give  to  sorrowing  ones  some  of  the  love  and  comfort 
which  the  Christ  child  brought.'  " 

Not  long  after,  Mrs.  Tracy  bought  the  little  home  on 
Ransom  Street,  Ripon,  and  there  passed  her  last  days.  In 
the  fall  of  1893,  she  took  formal  possession,  and  moved  in  her 
household  goods.  Mrs.  Horace  Tracy  and  children  spent 
different  seasons  with  her,  much  to  her  delight;  but  Mrs. 
Horace  Tracy's  delicate  health  made  it  impossible  for  her 
to  brave  the  rigors  of  our  Wisconsin  winters,  and  take  up 
her  permanent  home  here.  She  and  her  two  daughters 
spent  a  year  abroad,  and  thereafter  made  Mrs.  Tracy 
frequent  long  visits  through  the  years. 

For  a  long  time  after  giving  up  the  more  strenuous 
duties  of  head  of  the  domestic  department  of  Ripon  Col- 
lege, Mrs.  Tracy  superintended  Dawes  Cottage.  A  num- 
ber of  young  ladies,  who  wished  to  reduce  college  expenses 
to  a  minimum,  tried  the  experiment  of  co-operative 
housekeeping  at  Dawes  Cottage  with  great  success.  Mrs. 
Tracy's  counsel  and  help  were  invaluable  to  the  young 
people,  but  as  old  age  encroached  upon  her  energies,  she 
in  time  gave  up  even  these  slight  duties,  and  found  scope 
enough  for  her  talents  within  her  own  four  walls.  The 
little  home  on  Ransom  Street  became  the  center  of  a  most 
delightful  social  life,  for  Mrs.  Tracy  delighted  in  enter- 
taining and  in  being  entertained.  The  old  students  always 
sought  her  out  and  called  upon  her,  and  many  were  urged 
to  remain  as  guests.  For  several  years  Mrs.  Tracy  had 
students  to  help  her  in  the  home,  and  thereby  helped  them 
too,  by  giving  board  and  lodging  in  payment  for  service. 
But  as  the  years  went  on,  it  became  necessary  for  her  to 
have  a  regular  maid,  and  Bertha  Achtenberg  was  secured, 


80  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

who  rendered  faithful,  efficient,  and  loving  service  through 
the  last  few  years  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  life.  The  wisdom,  tact, 
and  consideration  which  Mrs.  Tracy  showed  those  who 
served  her  was  fully  reciprocated  by  a  loving  personal 
loyalty  on  their  part. 

In  1894,  the  faculty  and  students  of  Ripon  College 
tendered  Mrs.  Tracy  a  reception  in  honor  of  her  thirty-five 
years  of  continuous  service  with  the  college.  This  was 
held  in  the  parlors  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and  was 
a  very  large  and  elegant  affair.  Most  delightful  letters 
were  received  from  former  teachers  and  students,  full  of 
expressions  of  good  will  and  personal  affection.  A  beau- 
tiful glass  china-cupboard,  a  handsome  lounge,  a  large 
picture,  a  fine  lamp,  and  a  purse  full  of  gold  pieces  (as 
many  as  she  had  taught  years),  were  given  Mrs.  Tracy, 
much  to  her  surprise. 

In  1898,  Mrs.  Tracy  told  me  that  her  birthday  was 
November  12th,  and  that,  as  she  would  then  be  eighty 
years  old,  she  would  like  to  celebrate  it  in  some  way.  She 
said  that  she  had  purposely  refrained  throughout  the 
years  from  letting  anybody  know  her  birthday,  because 
she  knew  the  students  would  celebrate  it  or  give  her  pres- 
ents, which  she  thought  they  could  ill  afford.  So  no  one 
had  known  her  birthday  except  Mr.  Merrell,  and  he  had 
forgotten  it.  But  now  she  wished  to  celebrate  so  impor- 
tant an  occasion  as  the  attainment  of  her  fourscore  years. 

The  faculty,  ladies,  and  others  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  friends 
took  the  matter  up  and  gave  her  a  celebration  at  her  own 
home  that  delighted  her  heart.  And  thereafter  every  birth- 
day, up  to  the  last,  was  celebrated  in  some  delightful  way, 
either  at  her  own  home  or  elsewhere. 

At  Commencement  time  no  one  was  more  honored  than 
Mrs.  Tracy.  For  many  years  she  either  made  a  speech 
or  read  a  poem  in  reply  to  her  name.     Among  her  papers 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  81 

was  found  a  copy  of  a  speech  which  she  must  have  made 
in  1890.  It  is  a  characteristic  one,  but  there  is  space  for 
only  the  final  part  of  it: 

"Miss  Sill  used  to  say  that  she  was  married  to  Rockford  Seminary 
I  think,  in  some  similar  sense,  I  have  been  married  to  Ripon  College 
Certainly  we  have  lived  together  for  thirty-one  years,  and  numer- 
ous children  have  come  to  us,  and  I  trust  most  of  them  have  gone 
out  from  it  with  an  abiding  influence  for  good.  Certainly  many  are 
doing  good  service  for  the  Master  in  this  land  and  in  other  lands. 
I  have  even  attained  to  the  dignity  of  grandmother,  as  eight  or  ten 
of  the  grandchildren  have  come  here  for  nurture  during  the  past 
two  or  three  years.  I  would  not  intimate  that  my  influence  for 
good  has  been  all  that  they  have  received  here,  only  the  smallest 
part  of  it.  But  it  has  always  been  a  joy  to  me  to  know  that  my 
children,  and  now  my  grandchildren,  are  walking  in  the  truth,  and 
I  thank  God  that  he  has  given  me  the  privilege  of  such  work." 

Mrs.  Tracy's  health  through  all  her  life  was  remarkable 
for  one  of  so  slight  a  physical  frame.  She  had  only  one 
serious  illness  in  all  the  years  of  her  life,  and  that  was  due 
to  an  attack  of  the  grippe  in  1900.  She  was  careful  to 
obey  the  laws  of  hygiene,  and  treated  her  body  with  the 
utmost  respect,  even  when  alone  having  her  meals  pre- 
pared with  the  utmost  care  and  regularity. 

It  was  her  custom  in  the  winter  time  to  eat  mince  pies 
for  breakfast  and  dinner,  because  they  were  not  only 
toothsome,  but  nutritious,  and  more  palatable  than  meat 
cooked  in  other  ways.  This  was  a  matter  of  astonish- 
ment to  her  friends;  but  she  certainly  suffered  no  ill  effects 
from  such  a  diet.  She  had  reduced  religious  therapeutics 
to  a  science,  and  needed  no  outside  cult  to  teach  her  the 
art  of  keeping  well.  Christ  —  Redeemer,  Healer,  Friend  — 
was  sufficient  for  her,  and  the  evenness  and  steadiness  of 
her  physical  health  was  due,  in  a  large  measure,  to  the 
serenity  and  soundness  of  her  spiritual  life,  hid  with 
Christ  in  God.     She  never  worried  over  anything,  and  her 


82  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

constant  habit  of  carrying  everything  to  a  personal  God 
in  prayer  was  a  large  factor  in  maintaining  both  soundness 
of  mind  and  health  of  body.  She  believed  in  God's  prom- 
ises, and  accepted  them  with  the  simplicity  of  a  child,  and 
so  she  was  carried  "even  to  hoar  hairs,"  by  the  Living 
God.  Such  lives  might  well  be  taken  as  ringing  calls  to 
orthodox  Christianity  to  reaffirm  that  it  has  everything 
of  healing  requisite  for  the  health  of  body,  soul,  and  mind 
that  new  cults  claim,  and  the  infinite  fullness  of  Christian 
truth  in  addition. 

One  of  the  supreme  tests  of  character  is  the  way  in 
which  we  grow  old.  Mrs.  Tracy  met  this  test  beautifully, 
and  while  it  was  sad  to  her  friends  to  see  the  ravages  time 
made,  yet  it  was  also  beautiful  to  note  how  the  spirit  mel- 
lowed and  ripened.  She  kept  up  her  interest  in  the  Edu- 
cational Club  and  theaW.  C.  T.  U.  almost  to  the  last,  and 
her  devotion  to  the  cause  which  she  loved  most  of  all, 
missions,  never  knew  abatement.  Her  life  was  almost 
synchronous  with  the  past  wonderful  century  of  missions. 
Familiar  from  childhood  with  all  the  history  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  she  early  imbibed  that  passion  for  souls,  and 
sense  of  personal  responsibility  for  the  furtherance  of  God's 
plans  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen,  which  were  the 
most  vital  concerns  of  her  life.  She  knew  the  mission- 
aries of  our  Board  by  name  and  many  of  them  personally. 
She  prayed  for  them  individually  and  daily.  She  gave 
generously  out  of  her  small  means,  counting  it  of  no 
moment  to  deny  herself  for  the  work. 

Eager  to  have  some  one  go  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
W.  B.  M.  I.  at  Oak  Park,  in  October,  1905,  she,  as  usual, 
headed  the  list  with  her  subscription  towards  the  expense 
of  our  delegates.  Though  stricken  with  mortal  illness, 
she  had  the  last  missonary  meeting  of  our  local  auxiliary 
at  her  home,  just  the  Wednesday  before  she  died.     It 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  8S 

seemed  in  the  nature  of  a  last  sacrament,  and  none  of  those 
present  will  ever  forget  the  radiance  of  her  face  as  she 
eagerly  listened  to  the  joyous  news  of  God's  generous 
answer  to  the  prayers  from  our  women  of  the  Interior  in 
giving  more  than  the  $100,000  needed  for  the  work  abroad. 
In  a  book  which  she  handed  to  our  solicitor  was  found, 
after  her  death,  the  following  words,  the  last  she  ever 
wrote : 

"My  dear  Sisters:  Our  purpose  is  to  have  the  name  of  every 
lady  member  of  our  church  on  the  list  of  our  contributors  to  our 
missionary  society.  It  is  the  plan  being  adopted  by  many  of  our 
churches,  and  we  hope  soon  will  be  by  all.  Please  do  not  hesitate 
to  give  a  small  pledge  if  you  cannot  do  more,  but  lay  aside  a  little 
at  a  time,  and  you  will  be  astonished  to  see  how  the  sum  will  grow. 
Remember  to  accompany  your  gift  with  prayer.  May  God  bless 
you  all."  C.  T.  T. 

Premonitions  of  the  end  came  some  weeks  before  her 
death,  and  her  daughter-in-law  and  granddaughter,  Mrs. 
Osborn,  were  summoned  from  the  East.  On  their  coming, 
she  seemed  for  a  time  almost  well,  but  it  was  the  last  fitful 
flickering  of  a  light  that  was  almost  out.  She  was  able  to 
be  up  and  dressed  every  day,  but  Saturday  afternoon, 
November  11th,  she  sank  into  a  stupor,  and  quietly 
breathed  her  last  the  following  Monday,  November  13th, 
at  noon. 

Mrs.  Tracy  had  often  told  me  of  the  triumphant  deaths 
of  relatives  of  hers,  and  I  wondered  whether  she,  too,  would 
see  visions  such  as  they  had  seen,  but  if  she  had  any,  she 
did  not,  or  could  not,  impart  them  to  us.  Mr.  Merrell 
offered  a  brief  prayer  by  her  side  Sunday  afternoon.  I 
knelt  with  him.  She  held  a  hand  of  each  of  us  as  he  prayed, 
and  the  answering  pressure  of  her  hand  seemed  to  indicate 
that  she  knew  us  and  understood,  and  when  we  said  good- 
bye, she  nodded  her  head  and  tried  to  say  something,  but 


84  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

the  power  of  speech  was  gone.  The  eyes  seemed  to  be 
turned  inward,  the  soul  wrapped  in  mysterious  but  majestic 
solitude,  and  so  her  spirit  took  its  flight  back  to  its  Maker 
in  silence,  but  not,  we  trust,  in  loneliness,  for  our  Heavenly 
Father  hath  promised  His  children  that  He  will  be  their 
"Guide,  even  unto  death." 

AN   EPITAPH 

No  stone  as  yet  marks  Mrs.  Tracy's  last  resting-place; 
but  we  trust  a  monument  will  soon  be  placed  over  her 
grave.  On  this  she  wished  inscribed  simply,  "A  Teacher 
in  Ripon  College,"  with  her  name  and  the  dates  of  her 
birth  and  death,  and  a  brief  text  of  Scripture. 

Had  we  been  allowed  to  write  an  epitaph,  no  more 
beautiful  or  fitting  one  could  have  been  found  than  the 
touching  one  inscribed  to  his  beloved  wife  by  Sir  Thomas 
Lucy,  on  her  tomb  in  the  quaint  old  church  in  Charlecote 
Park,  near  Stratford  on  the  Avon: — 

"All  the  time  of  her  Lyfe  a  true  and  faithfull  servant 
of  her  God;  never  detected  of  any  crime,  or  vice;  in  re- 
ligion most  sound;  in  love  to  her  husband  most  faithfull 
and  true.  In  friendship,  most  constant.  To  what  in 
trust  was  committed  unto  her  most  secret;  in  wisdom 
excelling;  in  governing  her  House  and  bringing  up  of 
Youth  in  the  feare  of  God  that  did  converse  with  her 
most  rare  and  singular;  a  great  maintainer  of  hospitality; 
greatly  esteemed  of  her  betters;  misliked  of  none  unless 
the  envious.  When  all  is  spoken  that  can  be  said,  a 
Woman  so  furnished  and  garnished  with  Virtue  as  not  to 
be  bettered,  and  hardly  to  be  equalled  of  any;  as  she 
lived  most  virtuously,  so  she  dyed  most  godly.  Set  down 
by  him  that  best  did  know  what  hath  been  written  to  be 
true.     Thomas  Lucy." 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  85 


VIII 

MRS.   TRACY'S   OFFICIAL  RELATIONS  TO   RIPON 
COLLEGE 

"Till  the  future  dares  forget  the  past, 
Her  fate  and  fame  shall  be 
An  echo  and  a  light  unto  Eternity." 

— Shelley. 

The  first  record  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Ripon 
(then  Brockway)  College  indicating  Mrs.  Tracy's  official 
relations  was  made  on  October  3,  1859,  and  is  as  follows: 
"On  motion  of  Mr.  Bowen,  voted  to  employ  Mrs.  Tracy 
as  matron  of  the  boarding  department,  and  to  hear  such 
recitations  as  may  be  necessary,  at  a  salary  of  three  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year."  This  vote  was  in  a  manner  pro- 
phetic, for  Mrs.  Tracy  served  the  college  largely  in  double 
relations,  having  the  capacity  of  effective  leadership  in  the 
so-called  secularities,  and  being  at  the  same  time  a  vigor- 
ous and  successful  teacher.  Prophetic  also  as  to  the  matter 
of  compensation,  for  the  pay  was  always  meagerly  mod- 
est, and  for  much  of  the  time  she  was  expected  to  make 
her  salary  by  her  skill  and  economy  in  the  management  of 
the  domestic  department.  She  served  the  college  for  the 
love  of  it  and  the  good  she  could  do  to  her  pupils,  and  her 
reward  has  been  rich  in  the  love  of  many  whom  she 
strengthened  in  character,  and  blest  with  the  service  of 
unstinted  love.  On  July  20,  1864,  the  board  adopted  a 
recommendation  of  President  Merriman,  "that  Mrs.  Tracy's 
salary  be  derived  from  the  income  of  the  boarding  depart- 
ment," and  on  July  19th  of  the  following  year  the  Presi- 


86  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

dent  reported  that  "Mr.  Merrell,  Mrs.  Tracy,  and  Mrs. 
Woodrow  have  been  constantly  and  fully  employed  in 
teaching  the  whole  year."  Nevertheless  Mrs.  Tracy  was, 
during  all  of  the  time,  head  of  the  boarding  department, 
and  the  somewhat  strenuous  nature  of  her  duties  is  indi- 
cated in  action  of  the  board  on  June  27,  1871.  In  addi- 
tion to  her  teaching  duties,  as  matron  she  was  "to  have 
exclusive  charge  of  the  domestic  department;  to  have  the 
care  of  the  halls  and  rooms  when  unoccupied;  to  have 
the  assignment  of  domestic  work  to  the  young  ladies;  and 
to  act  as  hostess,  all  invitations  of  company  in  behalf  of 
the  college  to  be  made  through  her,  and  no  company  to 
be  invited  except  with  her  approval." 

During  the  last  years  of  her  life  no  work  was  assigned 
her  by  the  faculty,  yet  much  of  the  time  she  taught  small 
classes  at  her  home,  or  acted  as  coach  for  students  that 
needed  to  be  helped  over  hard  spots.  But  almost  to  the 
last  her  feeble  steps  led  to  the  chapel  at  the  time  of  daily 
worship,  for  here  was  the  center  of  her  deepest  and  truest 
love.  Her  presence  was  a  rebuke  to  the  careless  and  a 
benediction  to  those  gathered  in  the  spirit  of  sincere  worship. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  meagerness  of  her  pecuniary 
compensation,  she  suffered  no  real  want.  Though  no 
official  action  was  taken  in  the  matter,  the  college  by 
common  consent  continued  her  salary  to  the  very  end. 
The  jar  of  meal  did  not  waste,  neither  did  the  cruse  of  oil 
fail.  By  some  profitable  little  investments,  made  through 
the  aid  of  her  son,  she  had  managed  to  purchase  a  modest 
home,  and  this  shortly  before  her  death  she  left  to  the 
college,  a  gift  to  the  endowment  funds.  Where  her  heart 
was,  thither  her  treasure  went  also. 


•A 


^  1 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  87 


MRS.   CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

No  more  will  the  familiar  figure  of  our  beloved  friend, 
Mrs.  Clarissa  Tucker  Tracy,  be  seen  on  the  streets  of 
Ripon;  no  more  shall  we  hear  the  familiar  voice  in  chapel 
or  prayer  meeting,  and  Ripon  will  not  seem  like  Ripon  to 
many  of  us,  who  have  been  privileged  to  be  in  close  touch 
with  her  throughout  the  years.  Mrs.  Tracy  was  pre-emi- 
nently a  woman  who  knew  how  to  be  a  friend.  Her 
sympathies  were  so  large  and  catholic  that  all  kinds  and 
conditions  of  folk  found  room  in  her  affections,  and  she 
had  the  ample  charity  that  could  cover  a  multitude  of  sins 
and  keep  on  loving  the  sinner.  She  not  only  discerned  the 
best  that  there  was  in  the  people  around  her,  but  was  able 
to  draw  their  very  best  out.     Hers  was  the  heart 

"At  leisure  from  itself 
To  soothe  and  sympathize"; 

and  none  ever  went  to  her  for  comfort  and  found  her 
wanting. 

Her  life  has  been  lived  right  here  among  us,  and  has  been 
clearly  read  by  all  of  us.  It  has  not  been  a  particularly 
eventful  life,  so  far  as  outward  events  go,  just  a  "simple 
life,"  spent  quietly  and  busily  and  happily  in  being  good 
and  doing  good.  In  the  nearly  fifty  years  spent  in  Ripon, 
she  rarely  left  Ripon  to  go  elsewhere. 

As  a  friend  said  of  her:  "  Why,  she  did  not  even  care  to 
go  to  Europe,  and  she  might  have  gone."  Ripon  seemed 
to  be  sufficient  for  her,  and  it  was.  No  person  certainly 
could  have  been  more  beloved,  more  honored,  than  she  has 
been;  and  the  memory  of  her  simple,  wholesome,  true 
Christian  life  is  as  a  sweet  savor  that  lightens  and  bright- 
ens the  heavy  atmosphere  of  this  weary  world  for  all  of  us. 


88  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

In  the  long  conversations  with  her  through  the  years, 
indelible  pictures  were  made  upon  the  mind.  We  see 
the  little  three-and-a-half-year  maiden  trotting  the  mile 
through  the  dense  Pennsylvania  woods,  beside  her  sturdy 
little  brother,  to  share  the  delights  of  "deestrick  skule." 
We  see  her  quickly  getting  ahead  of  him  in  the  reading, 
and  surprising  the  good  mother  at  home,  before  three 
months'  attendance,  by  repeating  "How  doth  the  little 
busy  bee, "  and  other  poems  which  she  had  learned  to  and 
from  school,  from  the  fat  little  volume  of  Watts's  Hymns, 
which  she  had  won  as  a  prize.  In  the  primitive  log  house, 
in  the  well-nigh  unbroken  forest,  we  see  the  straight, 
active  little  elder  sister  of  ten,  attending  the  babies,  stir- 
ring the  porridge,  knitting,  sewing,  spinning,  and  helping 
wherever  she  could  "lend  a  hand."  At  fourteen  we  see 
her  installed  as  village  schoolmistress,  active,  bright,  and 
full  of  executive  ability;  then  later  in  sugar-camp  and 
academy,  acquiring  that  love  of  nature  and  of  knowledge 
whose  thirst  was  never  quenched,  for  it  was  in  the  spring- 
times in  the  sugar-camp  that  she  gained  her  wonderful 
insight  into  floriculture,  which  made  her  later  such  an 
authority  in  matters  botanical,  and  it  was  at  the  academy 
at  Honesdale  that  she  imbibed  knowledge  literally.  She 
herself  often  told  the  story  of  how  she  learned  Latin. 
She  had  to  sit  and  study  in  the  same  room  where  the  Latin 
recitation  was  going  on,  and  to  the  utter  astonishment  of 
the  teacher,  the  little  Clarissa  not  only  learned  to  read 
Latin  by  simply  hearing  the  recitations,  but  outdistanced 
members  of  the  class  in  her  knowledge  of  the  subject  by 
the  same  method,  so  that  she  was  allowed  to  join  the  class. 

The  years  of  her  triumphs  as  teacher  at  Honesdale, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Neenah,  Wisconsin,  the  many  distin- 
guished people  with  whom  she  was  associated,  would  form 
an  interesting  chapter,  but  would  be  out  of  place  in  an 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  89 

article  of  this  kind.  What  concerns  us  principally  is  her 
connection  with  Ripon  College.  Mrs.  Tracy  was  married 
in  1844  to  Horace  Tracy,  a  brother  of  Judge  Tracy,  of 
Honesdale.  Upon  his  death,  June  9,  1848,  Mrs.  Tracy  was 
left  with  two  young  children,  Clarissa,  who  died  in  child- 
hood, and  Horace  (later  Dr.  Horace  Tracy,  of  Escanaba, 
who  died  suddenly  a  few  years  ago),  and  once  more  re- 
sumed her  teaching.  In  an  interesting  autobiographical 
sketch,  published  in  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  December  13, 
1903,  and  later  in  the  December,  1903,  College  Days,  Mrs. 
Tracy  tells  how  she  happened  to  come  to  Ripon.  In  the 
autumn  of  1855  she  felt  a  revival  of  an  early  desire  to  teach 
in  less  favored  places.  Several  remarkable  incidents  oc- 
curred that  loosened  the  ties  that  bound  her  to  the  East, 
and  the  call  to  Ripon  seemed  so  clearly  a  special  call,  that, 
committing  her  decision  to  Divine  guidance,  she  felt  that 
she  was  led  to  come  to  Ripon.  The  following  words  from 
Mrs.  Tracy's  mother  helped  her  to  come  to  a  decision: 
"I  have  long  felt  that  it  is  your  wish  to  do  God's  will  in 
any  way  He  marks  out  for  you.  If  you  think  this  is  the 
way  He  leads  you,  I  can  only  say  'Go.'  " 

So  in  the  fall  of  1859,  October  3,  began  Mrs.  C.  T. 
Tracy's  connection  with  Ripon  College.  Only  those  who 
knew  her  in  her  prime  can  have  an  adequate  idea  of 
what  she  was  to  Ripon  College  in  its  earlier  days.  Her 
wonderful  versatility,  resourcefulness,  and  indomitable 
courage  were  important  factors  in  the  development  of  its 
life,  and  helped  to  make  it  the  strong  institution  that  it 
is.  The  following  tribute  in  the  Historical  Sketch  of 
Ripon  College,  by  ex-President  Merrell,  was  true  to  the 
life:  "A  woman  of  uncommon  strength  and  nobility  of 
character;  unconquerable  in  courage  and  fertile  in  re- 
sources; self-sacrificing  to  the  last  degree  for  any  good 
cause  she  may  have  espoused;   she  has  been  a  center  of 


90  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

moral  and  intellectual  unity  through  trying  years,  on 
which  the  faith  of  weaker  natures  has  taken  hold  as  of  a 
cable  of  steel  in  a  difficult  pass.  It  is  no  wonder  that 
President  Merriman  on  one  occasion,  in  speaking  of  her 
surprising  capability  in  managing  the  internal  domestic 
affairs  of  the  college,  declared  that  he  considered  her  ser- 
vice of  more  importance  than  his  own." 

Whether  feeding  two  hundred  guests  at  the  old-time 
college  collation,  or  housing  a  regiment,  as  when  Colonel 
La  Grange  and  his  men  were  quartered  upon  the  campus, 
Mrs.  Tracy  was  always  ready,  equal  to  any  emergency. 
There  was  absolutely  no  self-seeking  in  her  devotion  to  the 
College;  she  worked  for  it  because  she  loved  it,  and  spared 
neither  time,  strength,  nor  money  from  her  meager  salary 
to  further  its  interests.  Of  the  young  men  and  the  young 
women  braced  for  life's  battles  by  her  invincible  faith 
and  courage,  only  the  great  Judgment  Day  will  reveal  the 
number. 

For  years  Mrs.  Tracy  acted,  in  manifold  capacity,  ma- 
tron of  the  domestic  department,  lady  principal  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  part  of  the  time  teacher  of  mathematics  and 
botany,  and  continued  ber  work  actively  up  to  two  years 
ago;  since  when  she  has  been  connected  with  the  college 
as  Professor  Emeritus,  attending  faculty  meetings  until 
a  few  weeks  ago,  when  the  beginning  of  the  end  manifested 
itself  in  a  greatly  impaired  action  of  the  heart.  And  so 
our  beloved  friend  was  taken  from  us,  but  she  lives  and 
will  live  always  in  our  hearts. 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  a  member  of  the  Educational  Club, 
and  for  almost  its  entire  history  President  of  the  Ripon 
W.  B.  M.  I.  auxiliary,  having  its  last  meeting  at  her  home 
just  two  weeks  ago,  to  hear  the  glad  news  from  the  front 
in  regard  to  the  subject  nearest  to  her  heart,  missions. 
Her  seat  in  church,  chapel,  and  prayer  meeting  was  rarely 


CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY  91 

vacant,  and  only  four  short  weeks  ago  she  went  to  church 
for  the  last  time,  though  barely  able  to  walk. 

One  brother  and  a  sister-in-law  and  a  daughter-in-law, 
Mrs.  Horace  Tracy,  and  her  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Henry 
Osborn  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Dorothy,  are  the  only 
surviving  members  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  immediate  family; 
but  her  spiritual  children  are  a  host,  and  they  rise  up  and 
call  her  blessed.  Ada  Clark  Merrell. 

Ripon  Commonwealth, 
November  17,  1905. 


SERVICES   AT   THE   CHURCH 

The  funeral  services  at  the  Congregational  Church  were 
conducted  by  the  pastor,  Dr.  S.  T.  Kidder,  assisted  by  Dr. 
E.  H.  Merrell  and  Professor  Jesse  F.  Taintor.  A  large  choir 
sang  some  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  favorite  hymns,  "Lead,  Kindly 
Light,"  "Jerusalem  the  Golden,"  and  "Arise,  My  Soul, 
and  Stretch  Thy  Wings."  Professor  Meier  presided  at  the 
organ.  Dr.  Kidder's  prayers  and  scriptural  selections 
were  most  tender  and  comforting,  and  the  readings  from 
Mrs.  Tracy's  poems  most  beautiful.  In  his  brief  opening 
remarks,  Dr.  Kidder  told  us  that  we  were  present  on  an 
occasion,  not  of  sadness,  but  of  triumph;  therefore  we 
ought  not  to  weep,  but  to  rejoice  in  her  good  fortune  who 
had  gone  from  us. 

The  address  of  Dr.  Merrell  was  to  the  effect  that  Mrs. 
Tracy's  story  was  already  told,  writ  in  large  letters  in  living 
characters,  so  that  he  that  runs  might  read  in  her  life 
itself;  a  poem  set,  perhaps,  in  rough  meter,  but  one  that 
would  set  one's  pulses  beating  faster;  a  song  that  sung 
itself.  Briefly  reviewing  her  history,  Dr.  Merrell  said 
hers  was  a  case  in  which  words  seemed  meaningless,  she 
herself  was  so  much  more.     Asking  why  her  life  was  so 


92  CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY 

forceful  and  popular,  he  gave  four  reasons :  because  it  was 
intellectual,  administrative,  religious,  and  crowned  with 
self-surrender.  This  last  made  all  the  rest  forceful  and 
enabled  her  to  transform  the  lives  of  others  and  multiply 
her  influence.  The  life  of  Mrs.  Mary  Spencer  Thayer  was 
cited  as  one  of  these  mighty  multiplications.  He  placed 
her  not,  perhaps,  among  the  great  of  this  earth,  but  among 
the  great  of  those  who  walk  the  heavenly  streets,  because 
she  had  strength,  moral  earnestness,  magnanimity,  and 
the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  which  combined  made  character, 
and  character  alone  is  great. 

A  beautiful  message  from  the  Chicago  alumni  was  read. 

Professor  Taintor  called  our  attention  to  one  note,  the 
note  of  victory.  It  was  not  a  time  for  woeful  lamenta- 
tion, but  for  rejoicing,  since  she  was  not  dead,  but  living. 
He  paid  a  tender  tribute  to  the  beauty  of  her  character 
and  its  far-reaching  influence,  and  bade  us  heed  the  mes- 
sage which  was  her  last  public  charge  to  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Ripon,  "Little  children,  love  one  another." 
As  that  was  the  dominant  strain  in  her  song,  so  let  it  be 
the  dominant  chord  in  our  lives. 

Most  fitting  was  it  that  the  flowers  were  so  numerous 
and  so  beautiful  and  so  exquisitely  arranged,  for  she 
dearly  loved  flowers.  The  faculty  and  students  marched 
to  the  church,  and  with  a  large  number  of  friends,  after 
the  service  at  the  church,  followed  all  that  was  mortal  of 
our  beloved  one,  as  it  was  borne  by  the  faculty  and  seniors 
in  turn  to  its  last  resting-place  in  the  cemetery  on  the 
hillside. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  93 


TRACY   FUNERAL,    NOVEMBER    15,    1905 

Organ  Prelude Chopin. 

Sentence  and  Invocation,  Prayer. 

Hymn "Lead,  Kindly  Light." 

Scripture,  Ps.  107. 

Mrs.  Tracy's  Poems Dr.  S.  T.  Kidder 

Prayer. 

Hymn "Jerusalem  the  Golden." 

Address Dr.  E.  H.  Merrell. 

Address Prof.  J.  F.  Taintor. 

Hymn "Rise,  my  Soul." 

Benediction Dr.  E.  H.  Merrell. 

Postlude. 

MINUTE   OF   CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH 

Ripon,  Wisconsin, 
Thursday,  Nov.  23,  1905. 

Anniversary  meeting  and  roll-call,  at  which  one  hun- 
dred and  four  members  were  present,  and  forty  more  sent 
responses  to  the  invitation. 

A  minute  in  memorial  of  Mrs.  Tracy  was  presented  by 
Dr.  E.  H.  Merrell,  and  read  as  follows: 

"Deeply  sensible  of  the  loss  sustained  in  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Clarissa  Tucker  Tracy,  which  occurred  on  the  13th 
of  November,  1905,  and  desiring  to  give  expression  to  our 
sorrow,  our  admiration  for  her  exceptional  worth,  and  our 
esteem  for  her  many  good  works  in  the  midst  of  us,  which 
were  constant  during  the  long  period  of  more  than  forty-six 
years,  this  First  Congregational  Church  of  Ripon  directs 
that  the  following  minute  be  spread  upon  its  records : 

"1.  We  unite  in  devout  thanksgiving  to  God,  the  giver 
of  all  perfect  gifts,  that  He  raised  up  for  large  and  special 
service  this  noble  woman;  that  He  directed  her  steps  to 
this  Church  and  to  Ripon  College,  in  connection  with  which 


94  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

the  larger  part  of  her  life  work  was  accomplished;  and 
that  He  kept  her  in  life  and  strength  to  bear  witness  for 
Himself  unto  the  great  age  of  eighty-seven  years  and  one 
day. 

"2.  In  honor  of  her  memory,  and  for  our  own  admoni- 
tion, we  mention  and  record  certain  traits  and  moral  quali- 
ties in  the  possession  of  which  she  was  conspicuous  and 
distinguished.  Her  intellect  was  vigorous  and  keen,  her 
knowledge  was  comprehensive  and  thorough,  especially 
in  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  and  in  the  branches  of  study 
which  she  made  specialties;  her  courage  in  obeying  the 
calls  of  duty  and  in  confronting  obstacles  was  unconquer- 
able; her  faithfulness  extended  to  the  last  details  of 
responsibility;  her  faith  never  wavered  in  afflictions  or 
trials;  her  charity  covered  the  faults  of  others  like  a  man- 
tle, so  that  she  wrought  harmoniously  with  them;  her  wit 
was  keen  to  find  the  many  profitable  ways  of  church  and 
missionary  activity;  and  in  self -surrendering  sacrifice  she 
had  no  superior  and  few  peers.  By  her  loving  service  she 
built  her  life  into  many  another,  who  have  acknowledged 
their  indebtedness  with  deepest  gratitude.  In  respect  to 
her  services  for  the  college,  one  of  the  older  alumni  writes : 
'A  wonderful  woman,  true  to  the  last  to  the  best  spirit 
of  the  best  days  of  Ripon  College,  a  spirit  which  she  herself 
was  immensely  instrumental  in  creating  and  sustaining. 
Her  life  was  strenuous  and  heroic,  and  fully  rounded  out. 
Is  there  another  which  has  been  more  powerfully  influen- 
tial upon  the  lives  of  all  Ripon  students  ? ' 

"3.  Deploring  the  break  in  our  ranks  caused  by  this 
death,  we  highly  resolve  to  consecrate  ourselves  anew  to 
the  work  of  this  mother  in  Israel  so  deeply  loved,  and,  in 
emulation  of  her  spirit  and  aims,  by  patient  continuance 
in  well-doing,  to  seek  for  glory  and  honor  and  immortality, 
the  eternal  life  which  she  has  triumphantly  entered." 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  95 

Voted,  that  this  minute  be  indorsed  by  the  Church 
and  spread  upon  the  records. 

Voted,  that  the  thanks  of  the  Church  be  given  to  Mrs. 
E.  N.  Davison  for  the  gift  of  photographs  of  Mrs.  Tracy, 
framed  for  placing  in  the  vestry. 

(Signed)    Charles  H.  Chandler,  Clerk. 


A   MEMORIAL   FROM   THE   FACULTY 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  the  following  minute  was 
adopted  and  entered  upon  the  records: 

Mrs.  Clarissa  T.  Tracy,  for  forty-six  years  an  intellectual 
and  spiritual  force  in  the  college  and  community  life,  has 
finished  her  work  among  us,  and  has  entered  upon  the 
larger  life. 

As  the  Faculty  of  Ripon  College,  we  desire,  therefore,  to 
express,  for  the  college  and  for  ourselves,  our  profound 
appreciation  of  her  life  work.  We  recognize  the  unmeas- 
ured worth  of  her  steadfast  patience,  her  self-forgetful 
devotion,  her  unfailing  loyalty  to  duty,  her  ever-ready 
helpfulness,  her  uncompromising  righteousness,  her  Chris- 
tian consecration  and  her  Christian  love,  as  these  have  been 
manifested  in  her  long  years  of  service.  We  account  our- 
selves and  the  College  richer  and  stronger  and  better  because 
of  her  life  among  us,  and  we  believe  that  the  grateful  and 
gracious  influence  of  her  life  will  long  abide  as  a  power  for 
good  in  the  institution  for  which  she  so  unsparingly  gave 
herself. 

We  gladly  and  heartily  declare  also  her  peculiar  helpful- 
ness through  the  years,  as  a  member  of  this  body.  In 
former  years  her  wisdom  in  council  was  always  to  be  relied 
upon,  and  her  judgment  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
college  was  always  as  a  tower  of  strength,  as  in  later  years 


96  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

the  Christian  influence  of  her  presence  has  been  an  element 
of  inspiration. 

In  the  quiet  and  peace  of  her  later  days,  and  in  the  gentle 
and  painless  passing  from  an  earthly  to  a  heavenly  home, 
we  see  the  tenderness  of  a  loving  Providence,  and  we  rejoice 
that,  having  brought  forth  fruit  even  to  old  age,  she  has 
now  entered  upon  an  endless  life,  having  a  right  to  the 
fruits  of  the  tree  of  life. 

This  minute  is  prepared  that,  as  spread  upon  our  records, 
it  may  stand  as  a  permanent  witness  to  our  loving  regard 
for  Mrs.  Tracy  as  an  individual,  as  a  member  of  this  body, 
and  an  instructor  in  the  college,  as  a  personal  influence 
molding  for  good  the  lives  of  the  young,  and  as  a  devoted 
follower  of  our  common  Lord  and  Master. 

F.  M.  Erickson,  Secretary. 


TELEGRAM   FROM  THE  CHICAGO   ASSOCIATION 

Chicago,  Nov.  14,  1905. 
Whereas,  Divine  Providence  has  called  home  for  her 
everlasting  rest  from  earthly  labors  our  dearly  beloved 
teacher  and  friend,  Clarissa  Tracy,  we,  the  Chicago  Asso- 
ciation of  Ripon  Alumni  and  Students,  unite  in  this  expres- 
sion of  affectionate  remembrance  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  great  love 
for  every  one  who  has  been  a  student  at  Ripon  College,  and 
of  our  profound  respect  for  those  qualities  of  heart  and 
mind  which,  during  so  many  years,  made  her  an  inspiring 
teacher  and  a  loyal  supporter  of  Ripon  College  in  its  days 
of  trial  as  well  as  in  its  days  of  prosperity. 

Frank  Newhall  White,      William  R.  Dawes, 
Henry  M.  Lemon,  Wilton  B.  Judd, 

Frederick  A.    Dawes,        Charles  P.  Coffin, 

Committee. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER   TRACY  97 

MEMORIAL  TO   MRS.   C.   T.   TRACY,    NOVEMBER 
13,    1905 

The  members  of  the  Ladies'  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  Ripon,  Wisconsin,  feel  that  we  have  sustained  a  great 
loss  in  the  removal  of  our  beloved  President,  Mrs.  C.  T. 
Tracy,  November  13,  1905.  We  desire  to  express  our 
appreciation  of  her  deep  and  abiding  interest  in  the  cause 
we  represent.  This  interest  was  manifested  by  her  regular 
attendance,  having  missed  but  one  meeting  since  1895; 
and  by  her  interest  and  knowledge  of  the  many  missionaries 
who  are  in  the  field.  Since  1880  she  has  been  a  most 
faithful  President  of  the  Society,  and  we  hope  that  her 
example  of  faithfulness,  love,  and  piety  may  be  an  inspira- 
tion to  us  all  in  the  years  that  are  to  come.  While  we 
mourn  our  loss  we  rejoice  in  believing  that  she  has  entered 
into  a  blessed  inheritance  with  the  Saints  in  Light. 

Eva  Harris, 
Secretary  W.  B.  M.  I.  Auxiliary. 


MRS.   TRACY'S  CHURCH   LIFE 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  a  church  member  of  such  a  steadfast, 
ready,  joyous,  broad-souled  type  that  if  all  church  members 
were  of  similar  quality  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in 
having  the  "world  won  to  Christ  in  this  generation."  For 
more  than  forty-six  years  she  was  a  wide-awake,  work- 
ing member  of  the  Ripon  Church.  It  was  her  Church  in  a 
deep,  true  sense.  She  loved  it,  and  loved  its  ordinances. 
Her  place  in  its  assemblies  for  worship  was  never  empty 
if  she  were  in  town  and  well.  Her  counsel,  for  many  years, 
in  its  prudential  committee  was  indispensably  wise  and 
helpful.  She  attended  its  prayer-meetings  in  all  weathers, 
because  she  loved  to,  and  not  as  a  perfunctory  service. 


98  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

The  old  hymns  of  the  Church  were  dear  to  her,  the  place  of 
prayer  and  Christian  converse  cheered  her,  and  she  always 
cheered  others  by  her  ready  prayers  and  testimonies  that 
were  ever  most  heartfelt  and  strong.  Her  life  and  influence 
gave  them  a  substantial  quality  that  told  mightily  for  the 
Master.  She  was  a  thoroughly  genuine  and  joyous  Chris- 
tian. Her  sympathy  with  world-wide  missions  was  fervent, 
and  her  missionary  intelligence  strikingly  complete  and 
always  at  hand.  The  missionaries  of  the  Ripon  Church 
and  the  college  were  ever  near  her  heart.  Yet  no  other 
cause  benevolent,  near  or  far,  found  her  heart  dry  or  her 
hands  empty.  She  loved  the  Sunday  school,  and  was  for 
many  years  a  teacher,  constant  and  finely  successful, 
because  she  was  a  close  daily  Bible  student.  She  loved  the 
young  people,  and  kept  herself  young  with  them.  She  was 
no  stranger  in  their  devotional  and  social  gatherings.  In 
short,  she  was  a  balanced,  dependable,  humble,  yet  mar- 
velously  effective  Christian. 

S.  T.  Kidder, 
Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Ripon,  Wis. 


PART   II 

POEMS  AND  PROSE  ARTICLES 
BY  CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY 


HOW   MUCH  OWEST  THOU  MY  LORD    ? 

A  fair  New  England  girl  in  youth's  sweet  morn, 
With  visions  bright  of  earthly  love  and  fame, 

One  who  to  luxury  and  ease  was  born, 
But  gave  herself  to  God  in  Jesus'  name; 

There  came  to  her  the  thought,  a  debt  of  love  I  owe, 

To  heathen  souls,  who  no  such  blessings  know. 

In  her  own  quiet  room  she  knelt, 

With  words  of  consecration  deep  and  true, 

A  blessed  unseen  Presence  then  she  felt, 
It  was  her  loving  Saviour  then  she  knew. 

Then  forth  across  the  ocean's  waves  she  went, 

Feeling  by  God's  commission  she  was  sent. 

Her  earthly  life  was  brief,  but  full  of  peace; 
Some  said,  "A  waste,  a  waste.    Too  great  a  price 

Has  thus  been  paid  for  work  so  soon  to  cease." 
An  ocean  islet  long  has  held  her  dust, 
Where  she  gave  up  her  life  in  joyful  trust. 

But  the  sweet  story  of  her  life  has  thrilled 
The  hearts  of  many  maidens  in  our  land, 

Which  with  true  missionary  zeal  were  filled. 
They  too  went  forth,  a  consecrated  band, 

To  lost  ones  bore  the  message  from  above, 

Of  an  Almighty  Saviour's  dying  love. 

A  noble  youth,  who  knelt  at  learning's  shrine, 
Heard  a  strange  voice  that  whispered  to  his  heart, 
101 


102  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

"Honor  and  fame  of  earth  thou  must  resign, 

Thee  I  have  chosen  for  a  better  part; 
Go  bear  my  message  to  the  heathen  lost." 
The  mission  he  fulfilled,  nor  spared  the  cost. 

To  Burma's  sons  he  gave  God's  Holy  Word, 
In  their  own  tongue,  and  by  its  precious  love 

New  hopes  and  aims  were  in  them  stirred, 
And  by  its  light,  they  saw  the  open  door, 

Which  was  an  entrance  to  a  life  divine, 

Whose  blessed  beams  shall  ever  on  them  shine. 

From  out  these  college  walls  there  went  a  youth 
With  burning  zeal  and  faith  inspired ; 

To  Africa  he  bore  God's  words  of  truth, 
Nor  ever  of  his  loving  labor  tired ; 

But  preached  and  taught  with  hope  and  holy  cheer 

Till  called  to  service  in  a  higher  sphere.* 

And  one  I  knew,  possessed  of  worldly  store, 

To  her  the  question  came,  "What  owest  thou?" 

She  answered,  "  I  owe  all  I  have  and  more," 
And  gave  her  earthly  wealth  in  solemn  vow. 

Now  joyful  ones,  by  help  of  her  bequest, 

Are  teaching  heathen  souls  of  Christ  and  rest. 

Ask  thou  this  question,  O  my  secret  soul! 

And  may'st  thou  then,  such  answer  make, 
That  as  the  ages  ceaseless,  onward  roll, 

Shall  be,  I  paid  my  debt  for  Jesus'  sake, 
And  so  with  all  the  life  and  soul  renewed 
Thou  shalt  with  Christ's  own  spirit  be  endued. 

*  Rev.  Myron  Pinkerton,  1867. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  103 

Each  one  must  have  his  own  Gethsemane, 
Must  cheerfully  and  humbly  bear  the  Cross. 

Before  his  vision  will  be  clear  to  see, 
That  life  for  Christ  is  gain,  and  never  loss. 

Then  will  he  work  with  earnest  heart  and  voice, 

That  heathen  souls  may,  too,  in  Christ  rejoice. 

"0  God,  our  souls  with  holy  oil  anoint, 

A  sense  of  high  commission  on  us  lay, 
To  each  one  work  of  sacrifice  appoint, 

For  this  with  consecrated  hearts  we  pray, 
That  we  shall  learn  with  faith  and  joy  to  give, 
And  know  the  only  way  to  truly  live." 

Written  by  Mrs.  C.  T.  Tracy,  and  recited  by  Miss  Lulu  Dysart,  at  the 
W.  B.  M.  I.  meeting  at  the  Congregational  State  Convention,  held  in  Ripon, 
Wisconsin,  1898. 


I   ASK  MY  SECRET  SOUL 

Written  by  Mrs.  C.  T.  Tracy,    and  read  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  Wisconsin  State  Convention,  1898. 

I  ask  my  secret  soul,  "What  owest  thou?" 
0,  may'st  thou  so  obey  God's  great  command 

That  some  time  in  His  bright,  eternal  Now, 
When  thou  art  dwelling  in  that  "better  land," 

When  thou,  by  faith,  the  victory  hast  won, 

May  hear  the  Saviour's  blessed  words,  "Well  done." 


104  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

MUSINGS 

Were  all  my  secret  thoughts  to  some  one  known, 
And  could  that  some  one's  thoughts  be  made  my  own, 
Would  we  esteem  each  other  more  or  less  ? 
And  would  those  thoughts  be  such  as  harm  or  bless  ? 

Could  another's  pain  be  given  to  me  to  bear, 
And  all  my  pain  could  be  that  other's  share, 
Should  I  have  greater  ease  or  greater  peace  ? 
And  would  that  other  find  from  it  release  ? 

Could  I  exchange  my  cottage  in  the  town 
For  palace  owned  by  one  of  great  renown, 
Should  I  then  be  filled  with  joy  and  gladness  ? 
Or  be  sore  oppressed  with  woe  and  sadness  ? 

Idle  musings  these,  yet  they  will  recur, 
And  many  souls  with  doubts  they  often  stir. 
Then  restlessly  they  seek  for  something  new, 
But  all  their  hopes  shall  vanish  as  the  dew. 

A  better,  truer  way  I  know  full  well, 
And  now  the  secret  I  will  gladly  tell : 
Accept  thy  present  lot,  and  fill  thy  place, 
And  God  will  give  to  thee  His  joy  and  grace. 

DAY  BY   DAY 

He  walketh  with  me  day  by  day, 
And  cheers  my  spirit  all  the  way; 
He  sheds  around  His  blessed  light, 
Gives  comfort  in  the  darkest  night. 

Though  winds  may  blow  and  clouds  may  lower 
These  only  show  His  wondrous  power, 
Bring  Him  more  clearly  to  our  view, 
And  thus  our  faith  and  strength  renew. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  105 


THE   GRACE  OF   GOD 

O  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  grace, 
Thou  giv'st  in  time  of  sorest  need, 

Thy  mysteries  we  may  not  trace, 
But  all  Thy  promises  may  plead. 

The  hand  we  do  not  clearly  see 

That  lifts  and  wields  the  chast'ning  rod, 

But  know  that  it  can  only  be 
That  of  the  living,  loving  God. 

Though  days  of  doubt  and  days  of  fear, 
And  sorrow  come  to  pierce  the  heart, 

We  know,  we  feel,  if  God  be  near, 
He  can  repel  the  sharpest  dart. 

How  strangely  dull  the  spirit  seems 
When  Love's  best  gifts  are  brought; 

We  grasp  them  only  as  in  dreams  — 
And  in  our  blindness  say,  'Tis  naught. 

But  when  the  scales  from  off  our  eyes 

Shall  fall,  e'en  though  the  heart  be  riven, 
Our  souls  in  praise  to  God  shall  rise, 
For  His  severest  lessons  given. 
April,  1892. 


106  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 


IT   IS  THE   LORD* 

"  Therefore  that  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  saith  unto  Peter,  It  is 
the  Lord." — John  xxi.  7. 

Who  gives  this  peace  to  troubled  hearts, 
And  says  to  them,  "Be  still  and  rest," 

And  thus  a  heavenly  calm  imparts, 
So  they  can  say,  "He  knoweth  best  "  ? 
"It  is  the  Lord." 

He  still,  beside  the  weak  and  lone, 

As  on  the  shores  of  Galilee, 
Comes  sweetly  to  His  loved,  His  own, 

And  bids  them  look  by  faith  and  see, 
"It  is  the  Lord." 

O  burdened  heart!     0  stricken  soul  ! 

The  darkest  cloud  will  pass  away, 
The  burden  from  thy  heart  shall  roll 

When  thou  in  faith  and  hope  canst  say, 
"It  is  the  Lord." 

Then  in  thy  daily  tasks  of  love, 

And  with  this  vision  clear  and  bright, 
Seek  thou  not  earth,  but  things  above, 
Till  thou  canst  say,  faith  changed  to  sight, 
"It  is  the  Lord." 
Ripon  College.  The  Advance,  January,  1892. 

♦Written  January,  1892,  shortly  after  the  sudden  death  of  Mrs.  Tracy's 
only  son.  Dr.  J.  Horace  Tracy,  of  Escanaba,  Michigan. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  107 


DOUBT   AND   FAITH* 

"When  thou  passest  through  the  waters,  I  will    be   with   thee; 
and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow  thee." — Is.  xliii.  2 

I  stood  upon  the  shore  with  dread, 
My  heart  was  overborne  with  fear, 

When  softly  came  a  voice  that  said: 
"A  strong  and  loving  one  is  near; 

"Let  your  faint  heart  in  him  confide, 
And  firmly  grasp  his  outstretched  hand, 

Till  thou  hast  reached  the  other  side, 
And  there  in  peace  and  safety  stand." 

I  knew,  when  once  the  stream  was  crossed, 
That  brighter  scenes  would  be  in  view, 

And  yet  it  seemed  so  tempest-tossed, 
My  heart  was  filled  with  tremblings  new. 

My  spirit  upward  bore  a  prayer  — 

Quick  through  the  rifted  heavens  there  came 

A  voice:  "I  will  be  with  thee  there; 
Jehovah-jireh  is  my  name." 

Though  still  the  waves  before  me  roll, 
The  other  shore  looks  far  and  dim, 

I  say,  "Be  quiet,  0  my  soul, 
And  joyfully  leave  all  to  Him." 
Ripon  College,  Wisconsin. 

*  A  copy  of  this  poem  was  sent  to  Mrs.  T.  J.  Sullivan,  of  Ripon,  Wisconsin, 
in  her  last  mortal  illness,  and  comforted  and  touched  her  deeply,  shortly  before 
she  herself  "crossed  the  bar,"  December  5,  1907. 


108  CLARISSA  TUCKER   TRACY 

LENTEN  MUSINGS 

As  oft  at  early  morn  I  hear 
The  ringing  notes  of  chanticleer, 
I  think  of  far  Gethsemane, 
In  vision  there  the  Saviour  see. 

From  those  He  loved  and  called  His  own, 
He  goes  apart  to  pray  alone; 
While  there  His  lonely  watch  He  kept, 
Unconscious,  His  disciples  slept. 

There  in  that  dark  and  awful  hour. 
Again  He  felt  the  tempter's  power. 
Aloud  He  cried,  "If  this  can  be, 
O  Father,  take  this  cup  from  me." 

"Yet  I  would  do  Thy  holy  will 
And  all  Thy  purposes  fulfill." 
He  comes  where  His  disciples  lie, 
In  tones  of  grief  I  hear  His  cry : 

"O,  boastful  Peter,  can  it  be? 

Couldst  thou  not  watch  one  hour  with  Me  ? 

Again  He  goes  from  them  away, 

Again  in  loneliness  to  pray. 

While  now  He  pleads  on  bended-  knee, 
Light  from  the  opening  heavens  I  see; 
A  messenger  on  angel  wings 
To  Him  the  needed  strength  now  brings. 

A  holy  calm  is  on  his  brow, 

He  goes  to  His  disciples  now, 

And  bids  them  take  their  rest  in  sleep, 

No  further  vigils  need  they  keep. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  109 

Then  Judas  comes  with  traitor  kiss, — 
Was  ever  perfidy  like  this  ? 
The  soldiers  lead  the  Christ  away  — 
Then  fades  the  scene  till  light  of  day. 

The  Saviour  stands  at  Pilate's  bar, 
And  Peter  follows  Him  afar, 
While  now  his  soul  the  tempter  tries, 
And  thrice  his  Master  he  denies. 

Just  then  the  cock's  shrill  notes  he  hears, 
The  startling  sound  awakes  his  fears. 
The  Saviour's  eye  is  on  him  turned; 
The  look  into  his  soul  was  burned. 
Keen  sense  of  guilt  now  o'er  him  swept, 
In  bitterness  of  soul  he  wept. 

Peter  and  Christ  once  more  I  see, 
Beside  the  shores  of  Galilee. 
There  Peter's  love  the  Master  tests, 
And  gives  to  him  His  last  behests; 
In  faith,  His  great  command  to  keep, 
To  feed  His  lambs  and  feed  His  sheep. 

O,  Peter!  type  of  sinners  all, 
Who  in  temptation  sadly  fall; 
May  we  a  lesson  learn  from  thee, 
As  we  thy  bitter  sorrow  see. 

May  we  with  souls  repentant  bow 
And  hear  the  voice  of  pardon  now. 
We,  too,  some  Christ-like  message  bear, 
To  those  oppressed  with  woe  and  care. 


110  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

The  following  poems,  "The  Heavenly  Guest,"  "Some- 
where," "Rejoice,  Rejoice,"  and  "Children  of  Light,"  etc., 
were  read  by  Dr.  S.  T.  Kidder  at  Mrs.  Tracy's  funeral. 
The  following  comment  was  written  at  the  side  by  Dr. 
Kidder,  on  the  page  on  which  the  poems  were  copied: 
"Her  spirit  was  a  songful  one,  and  found  a  sweet  expres- 
sion in  the  forms  of  poesy,  light  and  graceful,  ever  devout 
and  trustful,  and  lent  itself  most  readily  to  heavenly 
themes." 

THE   HEAVENLY   GUEST 

"  If  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in 
to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he  with  me." —  Rev.  iii.  20. 

Come  in,  come  in,  Thou  sacred  guest, 

I  open  wide  the  door; 
Come,  make  this  heart  Thy  place  of  rest, 

And  leave  it  nevermore. 

I  know,  I  feel,  Thy  power  to  bless 

In  sorrow's  darkest  hour; 
Thy  lovingkindness,  I  confess, 

Hath  ever-healing  power. 

Come  in,  come  in,  and  sup  with  me  — 

I  give  Thee  all  my  store : 
For  all,  and  more,  I  owe  to  Thee, 

Who  giveth  evermore. 

'Twill  be  a  sweet,  a  heavenly  feast, 

Where  Thou  a  guest  shall  be; 
No  high,  no  low,  no  great,  no  least, 

But  all  be  one  with  Thee. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  111 


SOMEWHERE 

Somewhere  in  God's  own  realm  so  vast, 
O'er  which  a  mystic  vale  is  cast, 
Shutting  the  future  from  the  past, 
Our  loved  ones  gone  are  living  still, 
And  there  his  purposes  fulfill. 

And  whether  they  be  far  or  near, 
I  cannot  see,  I  cannot  hear. 
For  them  I  have  no  doubt  or  fear, 
Since  He  who  is  our  faithful  guide 
Doth  over  all  His  realms  preside. 

Sometimes  a  living  presence  seems 

To  come  as  forms  oft  come  in  dreams, 

And  soothes  and  cheers  like  hope's  bright  beams; 

And  then  I  ask  if  this  may  be 

Some  ministering  angel  sent  to  me. 

If  this  be  so,  'tis  not  revealed, 
Perhaps  in  wisdom  is  concealed; 
And  so  I  grasp  faith's  blessed  shield, 
In  patience  wait  till  God  unfolds 
The  secrets  which  the  future  holds. 
November  17,  1905. 


112  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 


REJOICE,   REJOICE 

Lines  composed  lying  in  bed,  convalescing  from  an  attack  of  La 
Grippe,  April  9,  1900. 

Rejoice,  rejoice,  O  soul  of  mine, 
To  know  and  feel  that  love  divine, 
Doth  walk  with  me  my  pilgrim  way, 
To  guide  and  bless  me  day  by  day. 

That  blessed  healing  power  I  feel, 
Which  doth  to  me  Thy  love  reveal; 
Thou  art  my  ever-present  friend, 
The  one  that  loves  me  to  the  end. 

To  Thee,  in  faith,  I  humbly  bow 
In  penitence  I  come  just  now  — 
Great  Three  in  One  and  One  in  Three  — 
Thou  living,  blessed  Trinity. 

The  rising  sun  now  gilds  the  earth, 
To  usher  in  the  new  day's  birth, 
O,  Sun  of  Righteousness,  appear! 
And  thus  my  spirit's  vision  clear. 

Lift  us  from  low  and  groveling  toys 
To  bask  in  Thy  eternal  joys; 
To  have  the  love  that  casts  out  fear, 
And  know  my  living  Saviour  near. 

While  life's  brief  space  is  left  me  yet, 

0  help  me  never  to  forget 

To  use  it  all  in  humble  ways 

To  "speak  my  dear  Redeemer's  praise." 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  113 


CHILDREN   OF   LIGHT 

A  fragment  of  an  unpublished  poem.    Dated  November  12,  1898, 
the  day  Mrs.  Tracy  rounded  out  her  full  fourscore  years. 

Are  loved  ones  waiting  over  there, 
Wishing  with  me  their  joys  to  share  ? 
Dear  ones,  in  fields  so  bright  and  fair  ? 
But  I'm  not  longing  for  the  change, 
To  me  mysterious  and  strange. 

This  home  is  pleasant;  life  is  sweet, 
Where  loved  ones  often  with  me  meet. 
Heaven's  joys  "  come  down  our  souls  to  greet." 
What  is  beyond  I  know  not  well, 
No  one  returns  the  tale  to  tell. 

And  yet  the  coming  dawn  draws  near; 

Celestial  voices  greet  the  ear; 

They  bring  sweet  peace,  destroying  fear. 
I  flee  to  Him  who  knoweth  best, 
And  in  His  arms  I  calmly  rest. 

O  wondrous  fair,  this  world  we  see! 
But  fairer  that  which  is  to  be, 
Where  all  from  sorrow  shall  be  free. 
And  yet  I  would  still  longer  stay 
Where  light  from  heaven  shines  on  my  way. 


114  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 


IN  MEMORIAM 

Lines  written  by  Mrs.  C.  T.  Tracy  on  hearing  of  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Carrie  Scott  Harrison,  wife  of  ex-President  Harrison,  with 
whom  she  was  personally  acquainted  while  Miss  Scott  was  visit- 
ing her  sister,  Mrs.  Lord,  in  Honesdale,  Pennsylvania. 

0  God,  with  reverent  hearts  we  bow; 

A  pall  is  o'er  our  nation  flung! 
No  place  for  vain  ambition  now, 

Or  peans  which  so  late  we  sung. 
Our  nation's  honored  chief  is  stricken  sore, 
His  best  beloved  wakes  on  earth  no  more. 

Mem'ry  backward  turns  the  stream  of  time, 

And  would  some  fitting  tribute  bring 
To  her  who  then  in  Love's  sweet  prime 

Seemed  like  the  budding  hopes  of  spring, 
As  with  the  noble  youth  who  won  her  heart, 
She  spoke  the  vows  that  bind  "till  death  do  part." 

Full  well  did  she  those  vows  fulfill, 
Through  all  the  swiftly  passing  years, 

In  ease  or  pain,  in  joy  or  ill, 

While  dwelling  in  this  "vale  of  tears," 

Where  she  with  loving  words  and  loving  deeds 

Was  quick  to  feel  and  care  for  others'  needs. 

Not  for  the  sainted  one  we  weep, 

Her  pains  and  sorrows  all  are  o'er, 
Our  hearts  their  tearful  vigils  keep 

For  those  still  on  this  hither  shore. 
Her  heavenly  peace  and  bliss  we  may  not  know 
Mid  clouds  of  doubt  and  darkness  here  below. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  115 

For  mortal  eye  hath  never  seen 

Nor  mortal  foot  hath  ever  trod 
The  hidden  path  that  lies  between 

The  spirit's  earthly  life  and  God. 
But  faith  may  surely  waft  her  pinions  far, 
And  catch  the  light  that  gleams  through  "Gates  Ajar." 

Ripon  College,  Wisconsin, 
October  25,  1892. 

TO   MR.   AND   MRS.   DIXON 

To  my  Beloved  Friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  H.  Dixon,   on  the 
Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  their  Marriage. 

Beloved  friends  of  many  years 
That  have  so  quickly  passed  away. 

Years  filled  with  hope,  with  joy  and  fears, 
But  naught  their  onward  course  could  stay. 

And  now  the  sunset  shore  is  near, 
The  golden  dawn  seems  just  in  view. 

God  grant  to  you  his  holy  cheer, 
The  blessed  promises  renew. 

On  this  your  anniversary  day, 

May  Heavenly  peace  upon  you  rest, 

A  holy  light  shine  on  your  way, 

In  heart  and  home  may  you  be  blest. 

And  when  life's  troubled  sea  is  crossed, 
The  other  shore  is  reached  at  last, 

Although  this  sea  seemed  tempest-tossed 
No  cloud  shall  more  its  waves  o'ercast. 

If  we  on  earth  no  more  may  meet, 

God  grant  together  we  may  sing 
His  praise  in  accents  strong  and  sweet, 

Where  Hallelujahs  ever  ring. 


116  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 


TO   REV.   L.   J.   WHITE* 

Loved  friend,  thy  earthly  work  is  done, 
The  lonely,  darkling  hour  is  passed, 

The  fight  is  fought,  the  victory  won; 
Sweet  peace  and  rest  have  come  at  last. 

No  more  God's  messages  of  love 
Thy  lips  with  burning  zeal  shall  speak; 

No  more  in  prayer  bear  those  above, 
Who,  penitent,  His  mercy  seek. 

No  more  shall  bleeding  spirits  hear 
Thy  words  of  sympathy  expressed, 

Bringing  a  loving  Saviour  near 

On  whom  the  burdened  soul  may  rest. 

Though  lands  afar  beyond  the  sea 

Shall  claim  and  hold  thy  precious  dust, 

Not  there  thy  dwelling-place  shall  be, 
But  in  the  mansions  of  the  just. 

And  Christ's  own  glory  thou  shalt  share, 
For  faith  shall  there  be  lost  in  sight  — 

No  sun,  no  moon,  no  darkness  there, 
For  Christ  the  Lamb  shall  be  thy  light. 

Help  us,  O  God,  in  faith  to  bear 
This  cross,  this  discipline  of  pain, 

Committing  all  to  Thy  dear  care, 
And  then  our  loss  shall  be  our  gain. 

*  Mr.  White  died  in  London,  January  10,  1903,  and  was  buried  in  Norwood 
Cemetery,  not  far  from  the  graves  of  Moffat  and  Spurgeon. " 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  117 


TO  SCIENCE  AND  EDUCATIONAL  CLUBS 

On  August  9,  1899,  about  twenty  ladies,  members  of  the  Science 
and  Educational  clubs,  met  at  Miss  Hazen's  cottage  on  the  south 
shore  of  Green  Lake,  to  enjoy  an  outing.  After  being  seated  at  the 
long  and  well-filled  dining  tables,  the  following  poem  from  Mrs. 
Tracy  was  read: 

Dear  friends,  I  greet  you,  one  and  all, 

On  this  our  joyous  festive  day; 
A  day  that  you  may  oft  recall, 

When  months  and  years  have  passed  away. 

If  now  my  absence  you  regret, 

And  speak  my  name  with  loving  thought, 

Remember  I  am  with  you  yet, 
In  all  that  we  have  loved  and  wrought. 

And  when  the  day  is  well  begun, 

As  you  our  muster-roll  shall  call, 
Just  think  that  you  miss  only  one, 

While  I,  alasl  shall  miss  you  ail. 

As  words  of  wisdom  and  of  wit 
Shall  shed  a  brightness  on  the  hours, 

May  they  be  such  as  well  befit 
The  beauty  of  these  woodland  bowers. 

Sound  forth,  O  birds,  your  sweetest  notes, 

Carol  your  best,  divinest  lays, 
And  as  your  music  upward  floats, 

"Extol  your  great  Creator's  praise." 

Blow  gently,  wind,  your  fierceness  stay, 
Bear  words  of  kindness  on  your  wings 

To  those  who  walk  a  tangled  way, 
Yet  long  and  pray  for  better  things. 


118  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

God  bless  our  hostesses  to-day, 

And  bless  the  guests  who  gather  here, 

For  this  my  inmost  heart  shall  pray, 
And  thank  the  Lord  for  friends  so  dear. 

May  love  divine  bless  this  repast, 

And  give  you  sweet  and  gracious  cheer, 

Crown  all  with  hope  while  life  shall  last, 
And  peace  and  joy  without  a  tear. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  119 


THE  SISTERHOOD   OF   WIDOWS 

This  is  a  peculiar  sisterhood;  it  is  as  old  as  the  history 
of  the  world.  It  has  no  organization,  no  ritual,  yet  its 
members  are  found  in  every  place  and  in  every  condition 
of  life.  The  queen  on  the  throne  is  of  the  number,  the 
empress,  once  idolized,  wears  her  weeds  in  exile.  The 
humble  peasant  enters  into  fellowship.  The  teacher,  the 
nurse,  the  physician,  all  claim  kindred  in  this  sisterhood. 

God  has  honored  it  by  placing  around  it  peculiar  guards, 
and  granting  immunities.  The  "fiery  prophet  of  Horeb" 
was  commissioned  by  God  to  minister  to  one  in  need;  his 
gentler  successor  followed  his  example.  Later,  the  prophet 
whose  lips  God  "touched  with  hallowed  fire,"  uttered 
denunciations  against  those  who  oppressed  her. 

Many  of  the  proverbs  of  the  "wise  men"  were  those  of 
rebuke  or  warning  to  those  who  neglected  duties  owed  to 
her.  The  Man  of  Uz  pleads  his  cause  before  God  because 
he  has  not  sent  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  away  empty. 
Apostles  exhort  to  visit  and  relieve  them.  The  Lord 
Christ  showed  his  tenderest  interest  in  healing  their  diseases 
and  raising  the  dead  to  life,  of  an  "only  son,  and  his  mother 
a  widow."  He  gave  a  most  remarkable  commendation  to 
another  who  cast  a  pittance  into  the  treasury,  saying  her 
gift  was  more  than  all  the  rich  had  cast  therein,  because  it 
was  all  her  living.  Instances  are  not  wanting  in  these 
later  days  of  God's  peculiar  care  of  this  sisterhood. 

Many  eminent  ministers  of  the  Gospel  have  testified  that 
they  owed  all  their  inspiration  in  their  work  to  the  counsel 
and  prayers  of  their  widowed  mothers.  Illustrious  men 
and  women  in  other  callings  give  the  same  testimony. 

So,  dear  members  of  this  sisterhood,  though  the  path 
you  tread  often  seems  dark  and  lonely,  let  it  give  you  hope 


120  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

and  cheer  to  know  that  a  great  host  of  your  sisters  have 
trodden  it,  and  found  comfort  and  joy  while  trusting  in  God, 
and  have  bravely  taken  up  the  tasks  of  life,  even  when  the 
heart  was  almost  breaking  for  the  memory  of  the  loved  and 
lost  ones.  Light  will  surely  dawn  in  God's  own  time,  for 
He  is  the  light  of  the  world,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  to  the 
members  of  this  sisterhood. 

O  widowed  heart,  0  child  left  fatherless, 
God  cares  for  thee,  his  promises  are  sure; 
Though  clouds  and  darkess  may  oft  surround  thee 
His  sun  is  shining  still.     Thou  yet  shall  see 
And  feel  the  healing  beams,  O  troubled  soul, 
And  say,  My  Lord  and  God,  in  thee  I  trust. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  SORROW 

Having  recently  been  led  by  experience  to  inquire  con- 
cerning the  ministry  of  sorrow,  especially  in  the  loss  of  dear 
friends,  I  have  recalled  several  incidents  of  my  experience 
that  have  come  to  me  with  great  vividness  at  this  time, 

I  will  relate  a  few  of  these;  they  may  be  a  help  to  some 
other  sorrowing  ones  who  have  not  yet  been  led  out  of  the 
region  of  doubt  and  questioning. 

"O  Sorrow,  cruel  fellowship, 
O  Priestess  in  the  vaults  of  death!  " 

So  sang  England's  Laureate  and  the  world's  divinest  poet. 
But  is  this  true,  all  true  ?  Many  a  one  has  felt  it  to  be  true 
in  the  first  sense  of  loss  and  desolation,  but  sorrow,  as 
priestess,  has  offered  on  the  altar  of  that  heart  a  pure  and 
holy  incense  that  has  risen  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  there, 
like  the  golden  vials  of  odors  seen  by  John  in  Apocalyptic 
vision,  it  has  raised  the  stricken  soul  into  a  purer,  diviner 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  121 

fellowship,  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  man  of 
sorrows,  and  this  fellowship  will  abide,  because  He  abideth 
forever. 

I  have  a  friend  who  not  many  months  since  lost  her 
dearest  earthly  treasure,  a  beloved  only  son.  She  has 
sorrowed  as  few  sorrow,  but  in  its  shadow  her  heart  has 
gone  out  to  God's  poor  and  lonely  ones  as  never  before,  and 
she  has  given  hope  and  cheer  to  heartbroken  and  distressed 
as  she  never  could  have  done  but  for  her  own  experience, 
She  has  sought  and  received  divine  aid  in  plans  of  benevo- 
lence, whose  results  will  not  be  measured  in  time.  She  is 
laying  up  treasure  in  heaven,  and  is  receiving  fourfold  in 
this  life.  No  such  blessings  could  have  been  hers  but  for 
the  Ministry  of  Sorrow. 

I  know  a  mother  crushed  by  the  sudden  removal  of  a 
darling  boy  a  few  years  old.  She  was  a  professed  follower 
of  Christ,  but  in  the  bitterness  of  her  soul  she  cried  out, 
"O  Jamie,  where  art  thou?  I  cannot  live  without  thee!" 
And  like  Jonah,  she  besought  God  to  take  her  away  also. 
A  few  years  later  I  was  with  her  as  she  again  trod  the 
"valley  of  the  shadow  of  death."  She  was  calm  and 
peaceful.  Faith  clasped  the  divine  hand,  and  she  lived  as 
seeing  him  who  is  invisible.  She  referred  to  her  earlier 
experience,  and  said  it  was  a  blessed  and  kindly  hand  that 
led  her  out  of  the  depths  of  grief  in  that  early  experience, 
and  that  evermore  she  could  sing,  "In  life  or  death,  Thy 
will  be  done."  A  deeper,  greater  sorrow  awaited  her,  but 
she  met  it  and  was  victorious.  She  now  rests  beside  her 
beloved,  and  I  have  no  doubt  she  knows  why  she  was  so 
often  called  to  pass  through  the  deep  waters  of  affliction. 

One  has  been  sitting  beside  me,  giving  words  of  sym- 
pathy and  comfort  from  her  own  experience.  A  few 
months  ago  she  could  not  have  done  this.  But  a  beautiful 
and  beloved  daughter  was  taken  from  her  by  the  angel  of 


122  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

death,  to  a  blessed  inheritance  above,  we  believe.  The 
mother  had  no  hope  in  Christ,  and  did  not  go  to  him  as  her 
divine  sympathizer  at  first;  her  sorrow  was  indeed  a  "  cruel 
fellowship."  But  this  sad  experience  led  her  to  seek  and 
find  a  sure  refuge  in  the  Rock  of  Ages.  The  everlasting 
arms  were  beneath  her.  She  now  quietly,  trustfully,  goes 
about  her  daily  tasks  seeking  to  help  and  comfort  all  sor- 
rowing ones. 

A  family  of  nine  children  were  born  in  a  New  England 
home,  and  some  of  them  had  grown  to  the  age  of  men  and 
women  before  death  entered  the  household;  but  on  one 
November  morning  all  the  members  were  startled  by  the 
strange  breathing  of  the  youngest,  the  pet  of  them  all.  A 
physician  was  summoned,  but  only  to  tell  the  family  there 
was  no  hope;  that  the  disease  was  membranous  croup.  In 
a  few  hours  the  little  one  lay  white,  cold,  and  silent  in  the 
darkened  parlor.  A  new  sense  of  eternal  realities  seemed 
to  impress  all,  and  as  they  spoke  in  low,  sad  tones,  many 
resolutions  were  made  to  live  purer,  truer  lives.  Those 
resolutions  were  not  forgotten.  New  hopes,  new  aims  and 
aspirations,  were  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  children  left. 

Several  of  the  older  members  of  that  family  met  a  few 
months  ago  in  that  old  home.  As  they  recalled  the  inci- 
dents of  their  early  experience,  tender  memories  of  that 
little  boy  were  rehearsed,  and  the  ministry  of  sorrow  in 
his  death  was  felt  to  have  been  one  of  precious  and  holy 
power. 

Many  years  ago  I  knew  a  young  couple,  very  happy  in 
their  first  home,  with  a  beautiful  baby  a  few  months  old. 
By  an  accident  the  little  one  was  suddenly  snatched  from 
them.  It  was  a  terrible  blow  to  both  parents.  The 
mother  sought  and  found  comfort  in  God,  whom  she  had 
learned  to  trust,  but  the  father  was  in  agony.  He  did  not 
believe  in  God.     I  spent  the  day  before  the  burial  with 


CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY  123 

them,  where  the  little  one  lay  "beautiful  in  death."  I 
strove  to  point  the  father  to  the  true  source  of  all  comfort, 
but  he  was  so  overwhelmed  he  saw  no  ray  of  light.  A  few 
weeks  later  I  saw  him  "  standing  before  the  Lord  "  to  declare 
his  purpose  henceforth  not  to  live  unto  himself,  but  unto 
God.  His  darling  baby's  death  led  him  to  seek  the  salva- 
tion of  his  soul.  He  was  indeed  created  again  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Other  little  ones  came  to  gladden  that  home,  and 
were  brought  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord.  He  still  has  sweet  memories  of  the  little  one  who 
led  him  to  Christ. 

A  young  wife,  after  a  few  brief  years  of  wedded  life,  was 
seated  by  the  bedside  of  her  dying  husband.  Her  right 
hand  was  clasped  in  his,  and  as  he  was  entering  the  death 
valley,  with  a  breaking  heart  but  calm  voice  she  repeated 
to  him,  "Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me,  Thy 
rod  and  Thy  staff  they  comfort  me."  A  divine  light  illu- 
minated his  pale  face,  and  with  expressions  of  a  beautiful 
vision  he  passed  into  the  unseen  and  eternal.  Then  to  the 
wife  the  sense  of  loss  and  desolation  were  overwhelming  — 
such  sorrow  was  indeed  a  "cruel  fellowship."  But  she 
knew  in  whom  she  believed,  and  knew,  too,  that  dying 
prayer  had  been  offered  for  her  in  such  a  time  as  this,  and 
as  incense  it  rose  to  heaven.  Peace  came  to  her  soul,  and 
in  faith's  clear  light  she  was  led  into  green  pastures  and 
beside  still  waters,  and  till  life's  close  she  will  bless  God  for 
the  ministry  of  such  sorrow. 

Let  us  return  to  our  beloved  poet.  Later  on  he  sings 
in  another  strain: 

"  'Tis  better  to  have  loved  and  lost 
Than  never  to  have  loved  at  all." 

The  Priestess  Sorrow  has  offered  a  new  and  better  sacrifice, 
soothing  the  first  agony,  expressing  in  part  the  gain  by 


124  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

loss;  but  it  is  not  till  long  after,  when  faith  has  clearer 
vision  and  doubt  is  dead,  that  he  sings : 

"  And  all  is  well,  though  faith  and  form 
Be  sundered  in  the  night  of  fear, 
Well  roars  the  storm  to  those  that  hear 
A  deeper  voice  across  the  storm." 

That  voice  is  the  same  one  that  said  to  the  weeping  sisters 
of  Lazarus:  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life;  he  that 
believeth  in  me  shall  never  die."  To  one  in  whose  soul 
these  words  sound,  sorrow  can  no  longer  be  a  "  cruel  fellow- 
ship," but  a  link  divine  to  bind  that  soul  to  the  Eternal. 

I  have  confined  my  discussion  of  the  Ministry  of  Sorrow 
chiefly  to  the  influence  on  individual  hearts  and  lives.  But 
this  is  by  no  means  all.  These  same  lives,  in  their  influence 
and  work  in  the  world,  have  been  a  power  immeasurably 
greater  than  they  otherwise  would  have  been. 

The  little  wave  circles  beginning  at  these  heart  centers 
have  widened  and  widened,  till  their  extent  is  beyond 
human  computation.  Oh!  sorrow  is  not  a  "cruel  fellow- 
ship" with  one  who  through  its  power  has  been  endued 
with  stronger  faith,  larger  hope,  and  diviner  love. 


IT   IS   CURIOUS   WHO  GIVE 

BY  AUNT  CLARA 

"It's  cur'us  who  give.  There's  Squire  Wood,  he's  put 
down  $2;  his  farm's  worth  $10,000,  and  he's  money  at 
interest.  And  there's  Miss  Brown,  she's  put  down  $5; 
I  don't  believe  she's  had  a  new  gown  in  two  years,  and  her 
bonnet  ain't  none  of  the  newest,  and  she's  them  three 
grandchildren  to  support  since  her  son  was  killed  in  the 
army;  and  she's  nothing  but  her  pension  to  live  on. 
Weil,  she'll  have  to  scrimp  on  butter  and  tea  for  a  while, 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY  125 

but  she'll  pay  it.  She  just  loves  the  cause;  that's  why 
she  gives." 

These  were  the  utterances  of  Deacon  Daniel  after  we 
got  home  from  church  the  day  pledges  were  taken  for  con- 
tributions to  foreign  missions.  He  was  reading  them  off, 
and  I  was  taking  down  the  items  to  find  the  aggregate  — 
the  Deacon  said  he  had  so  much  more  confidence  in  my 
knowledge  of  arithmetic  than  he  had  in  his  own.  He  went 
on:  "There's  Maria  Hill,  she's  put  down  $5;  she  teaches 
in  the  North  District,  and  don't  have  but  $20  a  month, 
and  pays  her  board;  and  she  has  to  help  support  her 
mother.  But  when  she  told  her  experience  the  time  she 
j'ined  the  church,  I  knew  the  Lord  had  done  a  work  in  her 
soul;  and  where  he  works,  you'll  generally  see  the  fruit 
in  giving.  And  there's  John  Baker.  He's  put  down  one 
dollar,  and  he'll  chew  more'n  that  worth  of  tobacker  in 
a  fornit.  Cyrus  Dunning,  $4.  Well,  he'll  have  to  do 
some  extra  painting  with  that  crippled  hand,  but  he'll 
do  it,  and  sing  the  Lord's  songs  while  he's  at  work.  C. 
Williams,  $10.  Good  for  him.  He  said  the  other  night  to 
prayer-meeting  that  he'd  been  reading  his  Bible  more  than 
usual  lately.  Maybe  he  read  about  the  rich  young  man 
who  went  away  sorrowful,  and  didn't  want  to  be  in  his 
company." 

So  the  Deacon  went  on  making  his  comments,  to  the 
end  of  the  list.  Now,  I  wouldn't  have  you  think  for  a 
moment  that  the  good  Deacon  was  finding  fault  with  his 
neighbors,  or  was  too  critical  in  his  remarks,  for  I  can 
assure  you  that  he  had  the  most  Christlike  spirit  of  any 
one  I  ever  knew.  But  he  was  jealous  for  the  Lord's  cause 
in  every  department  of  it,  and  very  shrewd  in  noting  in- 
consistencies in  giving.  He  wouldn't  have  spoken  so 
freely  to  every  one,  but  I  was  in  the  family,  and  I  am  not 
sure  but  he  intended  to  give  me  a  lesson. 


126  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

Now,  this  was  years  ago,  and  a  thousand  miles  east  of 
the  prairies,  in  a  town  of  stone-fenced  farms,  each  with 
its  beech  and  maple  wood-lot,  with  the  white  meeting- 
house and  the  academy  at  "the  Center" — and  this  is  not 
what  I  was  to  write  at  all.  I  was  to  tell  how  they  paid 
the  church  debt  at  Bates ville;  but  as  I  seated  myself  to 
write  that  Sunday,  the  good  Deacon  rose  on  my  mental 
horizon,  and  before  I  was  aware  of  what  I  was  doing, 
this  sketch  ran  off  the  point  of  my  pen.  I  always  thought 
it  ought  to  be  recorded,  and  I  am  glad  it  is  in  black  and 
white  now,  if  it  never  goes  any  farther.  I  think  the  Bates- 
ville  spirit  and  manner  of  giving  was  so  like  this  I  have 
sketched,  that  it  is  no  wonder  that  this  rose  before  me  like 
the  ghost  that  would  not  down.  Since  I  have  made  this 
so  long,  I  will  leave  the  Batesville  sketch  for  another  time. 

Lest  some  of  my  readers,  after  all  I  have  said,  should 
get  a  wrong  impression  of  the  Deacon,  I  will  tell  you  more 
of  him  and  his  acts.  He  was  not  only  interested  in  the 
Boo-roo-gahs  of  Africa,  or  the  Choo-hing-Foos  of  China, 
but  his  heart  went  out  toward  every  cause  that  had  for 
its  object  the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom.  He  de- 
lighted having  those  give  who  possessed  very  small  means, 
and  he  had  a  peculiar  way  of  helping  them  feel  as  if  under, 
obligation  to  him.  Mrs.  Brown  was  known  to  be  an 
excellent  bread-maker,  and  he  occasionally  sent  to  her  a 
sack  of  flour  to  test  its  quality,  before  he  felt  sure  that  he 
could  ship  the  product  of  his  mill  as  the  best  grade.  He 
suddenly  discovered,  too,  that  some  of  his  buildings  needed 
new  paint,  and  it  was  curious  that  this  always  occurred 
just  as  Mr.  Dunning  was  out  of  work. 

The  Deacon,  as  you  have  discovered,  was  not  an  edu- 
cated man.  He  knew  nothing  of  grammar,  "to  speak  of," 
he  used  to  say,  and  when  he  conducted  the  prayer-meeting, 
as  he  sometimes  did  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  he  mis- 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  127 

pronounced  words  in  the  reading  of  the  hymn;  and  one 
evening  when  he  said,  at  the  beginning  of  the  meeting, 
"We  will  read  for  our  instruction  the  25th  chapter  of 
Psalms,"  a  smile  passed  over  some  faces;  but  when  he 
prayed,  every  one  was  awed,  for  he  prayed  as  one  who 
talked  face  to  face  with  God,  and  we  knew  a  blessing  would 
come  to  the  meeting. 

Once,  when  asked  after  the  welfare  of  his  family,  he 
said  his  wife  "enjoyed  very  poor  health";  but  if  any  one 
could  enjoy  poor  health,  I  think  she  must,  for  his  kind, 
tender  ministrations  were  such  as  to  make  the  condition 
of  receiving  them  an  enjoyment. 

O,  I  forgot  to  tell  you  about  the  aggregate  of  that  list 
of  pledges.  It  was  $68,  but  the  printed  statement  of 
receipts  in  the  Herald  gave  it  $100.  I  know  where  the 
rest  came  from,  and  the  Deacon  was  not  a  rich  man  either. 


APPENDIX 


MRS.    EUGENIE   MANVILLE   McKNIGHT 

Among  the  favorite  pupils  of  Mrs.  Tracy  in  the  early 
years  of  her  teaching  in  the  College  was  Eugenie  Manville, 
daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edwin  Manville  of  Ripon;  and 
to  her  memory,  in  harmony  with  what  we  believe  would 
have  been  Mrs.  Tracy's  wish,  we  have  been  permitted  to 
inscribe  this  book. 

The  early  home  of  the  Manville  family  was  in  De 
Pauville,  New  York,  where  Eugenie  was  born  in  the 
year  1848.  After  the  removal  of  the  family  to  Ripon  the 
daughter  had  the  advantages  of  excellent  schools,  in  par- 
ticular those  of  the  College,  of  which  she  made  full  account. 
Here  were  laid  the  foundations  of  the  breadth  of  culture, 
fineness  of  taste,  and  Christian  character  which  made 
her  subsequent  life  a  social  power;  and  which,  added  to 
her  natural  graciousness  and  gentleness,  made  the  posses- 
sion of  her  friendship  a  prize  and  a  joy. 

She  was  married  to  Summer  T.  McKnight,  Esq.,  in  the 
year  1868,  and  her  subsequent  life  was  spent  at  Hannibal, 
Missouri;  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin;  and  Minneapolis,  Minne- 
sota. Her  residence  in  the  latter  city  continued  during 
sixteen  years,  in  which  her  fine  ability  as  a  social  leader 
and  a  worker  in  charities  for  the  comforting  of  the  aged 
and  homeless  in  their  need,  found  a  field  for  wide  and  suffi- 
cient service.  "During  the  sixteen  years  of  her  residence 
in  Minneapolis,"  says  a  notice  from  which  we  quote,  "she 
was  identified  with  the  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  was  a  director  for  the  Home  for  Children  and  Aged 
Women.  In  all  of  the  charitable  work  in  which  she  was 
engaged  she  exercised  a  remarkable  intelligence  and  execu- 

131 


132  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

tive  ability  which  brought  success  to  every  undertaking." 
All  too  soon  seemed  her  leave-taking,  for  in  the  very  prime 
of  her  power  and  opportunities  for  service,  in  the  year  1903, 
August  29,  she  entered  into  rest.  The  husband  and  the 
three  children  met  an  irreparable  loss  indeed,  but  the 
needy  also  a  comforter,  the  perplexed  a  counselor,  and 
humanity  a  friend. 


GENEALOGY  OF  THE  HARRIS   FAMILY 

KEPT  BY  JONATHAN  HARRIS 

Beginning  A.  D.  1654,  continuing  until  1905. 

I.       f  Walter  Harris Died  in  England  December  6,  1654. 

■(  Mary .Came  to  New  London,  January,  1658, 

{  a  widow. 

II.      /  Gabriel  Harris Came  with  his  mother,  Mary. 

\ Children:  Walter,  William,  Joseph. 

III.       f  William  Harris. . .  .Lived  in  New  London. 

\  Elizabeth  Gibson.  .Children:  Samuel,  Ebenezer. 
IV.      f  Samuel  Harris Born  March  5,  1697,  died  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward, 1757  (army  physician). 

Dinah  Wilcox 10  children,  all  born  at  New  London. 

Samuel September   26,    1722,    died    July   24, 

1726.     A  lovely  child. 

Paul March   21,    1724.     A  faithful   friend, 

much  respected. 

Ruth March  17,  1726.     Married Cady. 

Samuel December    18,    1727.      A    physician. 

Went  to  Kentucky. 
Silas January  3,  1731.     A  plain,  matter-of- 
fact  man. 

Dinah May  18,  1733.     Fond  of  solemn  music. 

Doubleday. 

Job February  10,  1735.     A  poet;  serious, 

but  cheerful. 

Lois November     20,     1736.     Serious,     but 

social.     Married Wrist. 

Edward July   17,    1739.     A  civilian,   lived  in 

Salem.     He    composed   our   family 
song,  "Sweet  Fellowship." 

Reuben December  6,  1741.     A  musician,  very 

athletic.    Lived  in  Brookfield,  Conn. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 


133 


VI. 


f  Job  Harris Born  February  10,  1735,  in  New  Lon- 

•j  don;  died  November,  1814. 

[  Abigail  Clarke 5    children:   John,  Parthenia,  Joshua, 

Abigail,  Eunice. 

/John April  22,  1776. 

\  Susanna  Smith.  .  .  .August  3,  1767.     Children:  Jonathan, 

Grant,  Miriam  and  Joanna. 

/  Parthenia 14    children:     Amie,    Isaac,    William , 

\  Isaac  Baldwin.  Parthenia,  Elizabeth,  Jesse,  Hervey, 

Rachel,  Levi,  Hosea,  Lydia,  Newton, 

Philamela,  Benjamin. 

10  Children. 

2  Children. 

4  Children:     Abigail,    Anne,    Daniel, 
and  Joel. 

Clarissa  Scott's  family: 
Born  Ocotber  16,  1791. 
Lived  in  Jackson,  Pa.;  9  children. 

April  28,  1793. 

11  children. 
January    11,    1795.     Died    February 

16,  1806. 
December  16.  1796. 

April  4,  1799. 

.9  children. 

June  16,  1801. 

7  children. 

March  19,  1800.       Died  February  25, 

1811. 
March  19,  1800. 

5  children. 

3  children. 
November  14,  1807.     Died  February 

26,  1825. 

Joseph  Elliott July  10.  1809. 

Mary  Niter 1  child:  William.     Married  September 

10,  1831. 

Harriet  Noter Children:     Mary,   Freedom,   Minerva, 

Ella. 

Eunice  Goodwin. . .  1  child:  Harriet,  September  11,  1860. 
Joseph  Elliott  married  Harriet  Noter 
October,  1833.  Married  Eunice 
Goodwin  April  12,  1854. 


Joshua 

Clarissa  Scott. 

Abigail 

Isaiah  Smith. 

Eunice 

Daniel  Baldwin. 
Joshua  Harris'  and 

Lydia 

Uriah  Thayer 

Lucy 

Stephen  Tucker. . .  . 
Clarissa 


Samuel. . . 
Phila  Otis. 


Ebenezer 

Rachnall  Baldwin. 

Joshua 

Nancy  Miner 

Joel 


Reuben 

Olive  Wells 
Lovisa  Stearns. 
Eunice 


134  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

VII.         The  family  of  Stephen  Tucker  and  Lucy  Harris: 

Stephen  Tucker.. .  .Born   February   9,   1794,  at   Halifax, 
Vermont,     Died  February  17,  1882, 
at  Jackson,  Pa. 
Lucy  Harris Born  April  28,  1793,  at  Halifax,  Ver- 
mont.    Died  April  5,  1871,  at  Jack- 
son, Pa. 
Married  at  Halifax,  Vermont,  February  4,  1816. 
Children: 

James  H.,  Clarissa,  born  November  12,  1818,  Elizabeth, 
Sarah,   Willison,    Eunice,   Evander,   Emerson,   Derius, 
Amos,  and  one  little  child  that  died  shortly  after  it  was 
born. 
VIII.         Clarissa  Tucker  married  Horace  Hyde  Tracy,  May,  1844. 
Two  children. 
James  Horace  Tracy  born  February  22,  1845,  died  De- 
cember 6,  1891. 
Clarissa  Aurelia,  born  October  3,  1847,  died  April  3,  1851. 
IX.         James  Horace  Tracy  married  Marion  De  Wolf,  at  Clinton, 
Missouri,  January  22,  1872.     Two  children: 
Marion,  now  Mrs.  Henry  Osborn  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and 
Dorothy. 


FELLOWSHIP 


Family  song  of  the  Harris  family  sung  these  many  years  at 
their  reunions. 

Sweet  fellowship,  from  envy  free, 
Sweet  converse  of  our  best  desire, 

An  everlasting  cement  be, 

Fed  by  the  flame  of  mutual  fire; 

This  flame  well  known  in  ages  past, 

Shall  ever  overflowing  last. 

There  may  I  let  my  wishes  loose; 

There's  no  excess  in  this  delight; 
And  view  the  eternal  mansion  house, 

How  broad  and  how  exceeding  bright. 
Jehovah's  name  strikes  every  string, 
He  is  the  source,  the  flowing  spring. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  135 

And  while  I  taste  the  pleasing  stream, 
The  source  engages  all  my  thought; 

I  soar  along  the  lofty  theme, 
Till  time  and  nature  are  forgot. 

Time  is  but  one  short  interview, 

While  this  is  ever  flowing  new. 

Then  fly,  my  soul,  with  eager  wing, 

Behold  the  interview  above, 
Where  the  bright  hosts  in  order  sing, 

Tasting  the  streams  of  boundless  love. 
Where  God  himself  regales  the  guest 
In  one  eternal  flowing  feast. 

Edward  Harris. 


STEPHEN   TUCKER 

Stephen  Tucker,  Mrs.  Tracy's  father,  was  of  sturdy 
Puritan  stock.  There  was  no  genealogy  of  the  Tucker 
family  available,  but  Mrs.  Tracy  told  me  the  following 
singular  and  interesting  facts  in  regard  to  her  paternal 
grandmother  and  great  grandmother:  "My  father's  mother 
was  Sarah  Angel,  and  her  mother  was  Christian  Church, 
and  she  married  James  Angel.  I  found  it  hard  to  believe, 
until  I  went  with  my  mother  to  the  old  graveyard,  at 
Halifax,  Vermont,  and  saw  myself  the  names  on  the  old 
tombstones." 

Mr.  Tucker  was  charter  member  of  the  Jackson  Baptist 
Church,  and  for  forty  years  its  clerk.  He  had  quite  a  gift 
at  poesy,  and  some  of  his  poems  were  found  among  Mrs. 
Tracy's  papers. 


136  CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY 

TRACY   ANCESTRY 

Horace  Hyde  Tracy,  son  of  Josiah  Tracy  and  Mary 
Birchard,  his  wife. 

Both  husband  and  wife  were  descendants  from  the  same 
ancestor,  several  generations  back,  Josiah  Tracy  being 
descended  from  the  eldest  son  of  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Tracy,  and  Mary  Birchard  from  the  only  daughter  of 
Lieutenant  Tracy. 

Lieutenant  Thomas  Tracy  was  born  about  1610,  at 
Tewksbury,  England  (?).  He  came  to  Salem,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1636,  lived  there  until  1637.  Land  was  granted  to 
him  there.  He  came  over  to  America  in  the  interest  of  his 
friends,  Lord  Say  and  Lord  Brook.  He  removed  to  Con- 
necticut in  1640,  to  the  town  of  Saybrook,  which  was  named 
thus  after  his  two  friends.  He  married  Mrs.  Mason  in 
1641.  He  married  twice;  for  his  second  wife,  the  widow 
of  John  Bradford  (son  of  Governor  Bradford  of  Plymouth 
Colony) . 

Lieutenant  Thomas  Tracy  was  a  talented  and  active 
man,  and  was  much  interested  in  shipbuilding.  He  moved 
to  Norwich  in  1659,  was  one  of  the  thirty-five  original  pro- 
prietors. He  was  representative  of  Norwich  to  the  Legis- 
lature twenty-seven  sessions.  In  1645,  he  and  Thomas 
Leffingwill,  with  others,  relieved  Uncas,  the  Sachem  of  the 
Mohegans,  when  he  was  besieged.  Uncas  gave  four  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  to  Thomas  Tracy  and  to  Thomas  Leff- 
ingwill. Thomas  Tracy  was  Lieutenant  of  the  New  London 
County  Dragoons.  In  King  Philip's  War  (1675)  he  with 
John  Bradford  was  appointed  commissary  and  quarter- 
master. He  owned  five  thousand  acres  of  real  estate. 
Lieutenant  Tracy  died  November  7,  1685. 

The  settlement  of  the  De  Tracy  family  in  England 
dates  from  King  Stephen's  time.  This  surname,  it  is  said, 
is  taken  from  the  castle  of  Tracy,  on  the  Orne. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  137 

The  Birchards  were  descendants  of  one  of  the  old  fami- 
lies of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  whose  English  ancestry 
settled  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  in  Puritan  times.  Their 
Norman  ancestry  is  traced  back  to  A.  D.  956. 


DR.   JAMES   HORACE  TRACY 

A  telegram  was  received  Sunday  morning,  announcing 
that  Dr.  Tracy  had  been  stricken  down  by  apoplexy 
while  at  work  in  his  office.  His  death  was  most  sudden. 
While  still  in  the  prime  of  life  he  was  snatched  from  his 
family  and  friends.  The  funeral  occurred  at  his  home 
inEscanaba,  Wednesday,  December  9th. 

The  high  esteem  in  which  Dr.  Tracy  was  held  by  the 
community  was  shown  by  the  large  gathering  of  people 
at  the  interment,  over  five  thousand  persons  being  in 
attendance. 

In  the  year  1868,  J.  H.  Tracy  graduated  with  high  honors 
from  Ripon  College.  He  then  took  a  course  in  medicine 
at  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  and  later  studied  at  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York  City;  from 
here  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1870.  After  gradua- 
tion he  became  assistant  surgeon  in  the  German  army 
during  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
he  practiced  for  some  time  in  the  hospitals  at  Berlin.  He 
then  returned  to  this  country,  thoroughly  equipped  for  his 
life's  work.  In  1873  he  married  Miss  Marion  De  Wolf,  and 
began  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Escanaba,  where  he  has 
resided  until  his  death. 

The  qualities  which  made  Dr.  Tracy  eminent  were  his 
unselfish  devotion  to  the  interests  of  all  with  whom  his 
profession  brought  him  in  contact,  his  readiness  at  all 
times  to  administer  to  the  needs  of  the  poor  without  regard 


138  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

to  pecuniary  benefit,  and  his  indefatigable  power  for  con- 
tinuous work. 

Professional  ability  was  not  the  sole  excellence  or  dis- 
tinction of  Dr.  Tracy.  His  social  qualities,  his  love  of  lit- 
erature, and  his  keen  interest  in  moral  reform,  and  all  that 
tends  to  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-men,  amid  all  the  other 
demands  of  his  profession,  were  remarkable. 

His  career  is  now  closed,  but  it  is  a  happy  reflection  that 
it  has  been  a  career  of  so  much  honor  to  himself  and  of  so 
much  usefulness  to  others. 

College  Days,  December,  1891. 


ANNIVERSARIES 
IN   HONOR   OF   MRS.   C.   T.   TRACY 

One  of  the  most  delightful  parties  of  the  season  was 
given  Thursday,  November  12,  1903,  as  the  home  of  Mrs. 
E.  H.  Merrell,  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  eighty-fifth  birthday. 
Some  thirty  guests,  friends  of  long  standing,  assembled 
to  extend  congratulations  and  best  wishes  to  the  one  we 
all  love  to  honor.  Prominent  among  the  guests  were  Mrs. 
Cooper,  mother  of  Mrs.  B.  F.  Sanford,  and  Mrs.  H.  S.  Eg- 
gleston.  Mrs.  Cooper  went  to  school  to  Mrs.  Tracy  when 
the  latter  was  in  her  teens,  and  Mrs.  Eggleston  has  been  a 
friend  of  Mrs.  Tracy  for  more  than  forty  years. 

A  short  program  was  rendered  in  the  early  part  of  the 
afternoon,  including  a  violin  solo  by  Miss  Lilian  C.  Merrell. 

Much  to  Mrs.  Tracy's  surprise,  Mrs.  Merrell  read  two 
poems,  written  respectively  by  Mrs.  Tracy  and  by  Mrs. 
Mary  Spencer  Thayer  on  the  occasion  of  Mrs.  Tracy's 
eightieth  anniversary.  A  piano  solo,  "The  Sweet  Long 
Ago,"  by  Blake,  and  Lange's  Flower  Song,  were  given  by 
the  hostess.  Then  all  with  clasped  hands  joined  in  sing- 
ing, "Auld  Lang  Syne"  to  the  leading  of  the  violin. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY  139 

A  dainty  supper  was  served.  White  and  pale  yellow 
chrysanthemums,  the  glossy  leaves  and  bright  red  berries 
of  the  honeysuckle,  and  red  and  white  candles  giving  the 
dining-room  a  gay  and  festive  appearance.  The  decora- 
tion of  the  other  rooms  were  red  and  white  carnations  and 
white  and  yellow  chrysanthemums. 

Ripon  Commonwealth. 

MRS.   TRACY'S   EIGHTY-SIXTH   ANNIVERSARY 

That  Saturday,  November  12th,  was  a  pleasant  day, 
was  an  agreeable  fact  to  not  a  few  people,  but  to  none 
more  so  than  to  about  forty  of  the  numerous  friends  of 
Mrs.  C.  T.  Tracy,  who,  for  two  or  three  days  had  been 
whispering  among  themselves  that  it  was  Mrs.  Tracy's 
eighty-sixth  birthday,  and  that  a  surprise  party  would  be  in 
order.  The  guests  began  to  assemble  about  noon,  each 
offering  suitable  congratulations  or  gifts  to  the  hostess.  A 
bountiful  dinner  had  been  provided  by  the  guests,  to  which, 
after  grace  by  Mr.  Cooper,  ample  justice  was  done.  Then, 
all  the  company  being  assembled  in  the  sitting-room  or 
about  the  doors,  Mrs.  Tracy  was  presented  a  beautiful 
white  shawl,  and  Dr.  Merrell  called  upon  to  make  a  pres- 
entation speech.  He  recounted,  in  brief,  Mrs.  Tracy's  work 
in  the  college,  and  the  high  esteem  in  which  she  was  held 
by  the  students,  the  faculty,  and  by  all  who  knew  her 
strong  Christian  character,  and  closed  with  a  word  of 
advice,  "That  she  should  be  very  careful  of  the  shawl,  for 
when  we  all  should  assemble  to  celebrate  her  one-hun- 
dredth birthday  we  should  want  to  see  her  wearing  it." 

Professor  Chandler,  with  a  few  appropriate  anecdotes, 
spoke  of  the  great  advantages  offered  to  women  now  as 
compared  with  those  when  Mrs.  Tracy  was  a  young  teacher 
in  Pennsylvania.     She  had  had  a  chance  to  note  all  this 


140  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

wonderful  growth.  Not  that  we  ever  thought  of  her  as  old. 
"This  reminded  him  of  an  anecdote.  A  couple  had  reached 
the  age  of  90,  and  one  day  they  received  the  sad  news  of 
of  the  death  of  one  of  their  numerous  sons,  aged  70.  The 
husband,  turning  to  his  wife,  remarked,  "Well,  Mehitabel, 
I  always  was  afraid  we  should  never  be  able  to  raise  that 
boy." 

The  mistress  of  ceremonies,  Mrs.  Merrell,  then  called 
upon  Mrs.  Tracy  to  speak  in  response,  as  she  well  knew 
she  was  capable  of  doing.  How  proud  we  felt  of  her,  as 
she  rose  straight  and  tall  with  the  fluffy  white  shawl 
wrapped  about  her,  and  told  how,  as  a  girl  of  fourteen 
she  had  been  asked  to  take  a  school,  and  how  awed  she 
felt  when  that  august  body,  the  school  inspectors,  came 
visiting.  (One  of  her  old  Pennsylvania  pupils,  now  Mrs. 
Cooper,  was  among  the  guests  present.)  When  at  night 
her  landlady  had  told  her  the  inspectors  said  hers  was  the 
best  school  they  had  visited  that  day,  she  did  not  feel 
proud  a  bit.  It  rather  made  her  humble,  for  she  thought 
how  much  better  she  might  have  done.  She  always  felt- 
that  way  whenever  she  was  commended  for  doing  any- 
thing. Notwithstanding  her  disadvantages,  she  procured 
books,  and  took  all  the  studies  open  to  young  men  in  the 
colleges,  except  Greek.  But  her  greatest  joy,  after  all,  was 
that  she  believed  that  she  was  a  Christian,  for,  as  she  looked 
upon  people,  she  really  felt  she  loved  them  all,  and  had  no 
enemies.  She  looked  forward  to  an  entrance  into  the  joys 
everlasting,  where  she  hoped  to  meet  all  her  friends. 

After  singing  "Auld  Lang  Syne,"  a  brief  social  time 
was  enjoyed,  and  the  guests  departed,  wishing  the  hostess 
other  happy  birthdays. 

Those  from  away  were  Miss  Luthera  Adams  of  Omro, 
Miss  Lovila  Mosher,  and  Mrs.  J.  T.  Sheehan  of  Waupun. 

College  Days.  One  of  the  Guests. 


CLARISSA  TUCKER   TRACY  141 

FOR  THE  EIGHTY-FIRST  BIRTHDAY 

What  life  attains,  serene,  its  fourscore  years? 

What  life  fulfills  its  reach  of  time  and  space 

And  beauty?     'Tis  the  life  that  runs  its  race 
With  patience,  and  divine  high-calling  hears ; 
The  child-like  soul,  that  trusts  and  bodes  no  fears ; 

The  spirit  swift  to  do  and  teach,  through  grace, 

The  truth  and  will  of  God ;  finding  a  place 
To  sympathize  and  bless,  in  spite  of  cares. 
Such  lives  our  grateful  hearts  will  not  forget. 

Such  we  congratulate  in  glad  assemblings 
To  render  such  frail  honors  as  we  may. 
We  pray  they  long  may  linger  with  us  yet, 

That  we  may  farther  trace  divine  resemblings 
And  in  their  light  through  darkness  find  our  way. 

S.  T.  Kidder. 
Ripon,  Wis.,  November  12,  1895. 


TO  MRS.   TRACY 

Dear  friend,  still  lithe  of  tread  and  strong  of  voice, 
On  this  fair  day  receive  our  greeting  true, 
O'er  all  sweet  things  this  birthday  brings  to  view, 

And  in  thy  joy  which  bids  us  all  rejoice. 

For  thy  chief  blessing,  what  shall  be  our  choice, 
While  we  to-day  our  tenderest  love  renew? 
More  years  of  sunshine  spanned  with  skies  all  blue? 

Full  days  of  peace,  remote  from  care  and  noise? 

For  this,  and  more,  O  friend  beloved,  we  pray; 
Sweet  memories  fondly  roaming  o  'er  the  past, 
Fruitions  fair  to  crown  each  present  scene, 
Hopes  that  bring  Heaven  nearer  each  swift  day, 
Faith  that  makes  each  hour   brighter  than  the  last, 
The  precious  nearness  of  the  Friend  unseen. 
To  Mrs.  Tracy  from  her  pastor,  S.  T.  Kidder. 
November  12,  1904. 


142  CLARISSA   TUCKER  TRACY 

ACROSTIC  ON   THE  MAY-FLOWER 

To  Mrs.  C.  T.  Tracy,  on  seeing  at  her  room  the  first  flowers  of  the 

season. 

There  is  a  flower  I  love,  and  love  the  best, 
Remote  from  man  its  hiding-place  of  rest, 
Among  the  withered  leaves  its  mossy  dell, 
I  know  your  pretty  waxen  face  right  well, 
Low  lying,  lovely  little  flower  of  May; 
I  love  your  purity  and  artless  way; 
No  sweeter  blossom  on  the  earth  is  found, 
God  never  made,  to  bloom  so  near  the  ground. 

A  better  proof  of  skill  and  heavenly  love; 
Read  me  a  lesson,  little  flower  divine; 
Be  thou  my  teacher,  while  I  seek  thy  shrine; 
Unfold  to  me  the  way  of  modest  worth, 
That  greatness  is  not  incident  to  birth. 
Upon  these  darling  flowers  angels  smiled; 
Smile  back  again!     So  is  my  life  beguiled. 

E.  N.  A. 


EDWARD    ROWLAND   SILL 

Edward  Rowland  Sill's  mother  died  when  he  was  quite  young, 
and  his  aunt,  Miss  Rowland,  had  the  care  of  him.  When  he  was 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  she  came  to  Honesdale  to  spend  a 
year  with  her  brother,  Dr.  Henry  A.  Rowland,  our  pastor,  and  Sill 
attended  our  academy  and  was  in  my  classes.  I  had  charge  of  his 
work  in  composition.  He  handed  in  a  poem,  which  I  thought  quite 
remarkable,  but  I  doubted  the  originality,  and  showed  it  to  the 
other  three  teachers,  and  they  felt  as  I  did,  but  did  not  think  best 
to  say  anything  to  him  about  it,  so  I  gave  him  a  subject  for  another 
one,  which  he  wrote  equally  well. 

He  left  at  the  end  of  the  year  and  went  to  Yale  College,  I  think. 
I  heard  little  of  him  for  some  years,  occasionally  an  article  or  poem 
in  some  paper  or  magazine,  till  Professor  Tolman  came  here. 

Ripon,  Wisconsin.  C.  T.  T. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  143 


THE  RIPON  FLAG 
Mr.  Allex, 

Dear  Sir: —  The  following  incidents  may  not  have  been  noticed 
by  others,  and  thinking  it  worthy  of  presentation  I  send  it  to  you 
for  insertion  in  connection  with  your  account  of  the  interesting 
exercises  last  evening. 

Just  as  the  standard-bearer  had  taken  his  position  after  receiving 
the  flag  from  the  ladies,  the  clouds  that  were  scudding  across  the 
zenith  parted,  and  Jupiter  appeared  just  above  it,  while  no  other 
star  was  yet  visible. 

Beneath  the  dome  of  heaven,  at  twilight's  hour, 

The  ensign  of  our  Ripon  Rifles  bore 

Our  country's  flag,  received  from  woman's  hand 

In  that  proud  hour:   received  as  their  own  flag, 

Which  they  may  bear,  as  they  go  forth  to  battle 

For  the  right,  far  from  their  loved  prairie  homes; 

And  as  the  "stripes"  streamed  forth,  moved  by  the  breeze, 

And  the  bright  silver  stars  gleamed  on  the  blue, 

Another  star,  by  upward  glance,  viewed, 

Even  then,  just  through  the  "rifted  clouds"  above. 

Bright  Jupiter  looked  down  to  bless  the  scene, 

And  rode  in  majesty  above  the  heads 

Of  those  brave  volunteers;  perchance  the  star 

Of  hope  to  them,  and  to  our  own  dear  land. 

It  was  a  pleasant  scene  for  such  an  hour, 

Bearing  tokens  of  the  sway  of  justice, 

And  should  these  boys  in  blue 

Go  forth  to  dwell  in  "camp  or  tented  field," 

May  this  same  star  with  beams  as  bright  look  down  on  them, 

As  true  and  brave,  as  those  on  Bunker's  Hill, 

Or  Saratoga's  plain;  and  may  it  speak 

To  them  of  Him  who  is  the  "bright  and  evening  star," 

The  star  of  hope  to  all  who  seek  its  light: 

A  light  that  shall  illume  our  life's  whole  path, 

And  e'en  make  bright  the  passage  to  the  tomb. 

C.  T. 


144  CLARISSA  TUCKER  TRACY 

JOE   SMITH 

Windsor,  N.  Y.,  July  28,  1881. 
Editors  Press: 

"We  two"  came  to  this  place  yesterday.  We  did  not 
come  by  rail,  choosing  a  carriage  ride  of  nine  miles  from 
Susquehanna,  especially  as  we  had  the  company  of  some 
jolly  musical  friends,  with  whom  we  could  talk  of  the 
beauties  by  the  way,  or  listen  to  gleeful  songs  as  we 
came  through  the  ferny  woods.  The  whole  distance  is 
fragrant  with  the  odor  of  "raspberries  and  woodland 
herbage.  The  road  is  a  little  above  the  beautiful  Sus- 
quehanna River,  which  we  see  on  "its  winding  way" 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  distance  we  came.  Along  its  bank 
is  the  serpentine  track  of  the  railroad,  and  every  half-hour 
or  oftener  the  scene  is  varied  by  the  gliding  motion  of  long 
trains  of  coal-cars,  carrying  their  freight  to  Saratoga,  Mon- 
treal, iron  regions  of  Vermont,  and  other  portions  of  New 
England. 

One  of  the  charming  views  by  the  way  is  the  reflection 
from  the  surface  of  the  river  of  the  graceful  foliage  on  its 
banks.  Here  we  are  warmly  welcomed  in  a  delightful 
home,  near  which  are  rocky  dells,  gushing  streams  of  clear 
cold  water,  laughing  cascades,  and  mossy  banks.  As  is 
common  here,  in  early  morning  the  fog  conceals  the  sur- 
roundings, but  it  will  lift  as  the  sun  gets  higher.  "When 
the  mists  have  cleared  away"  we  are  going  to  explore  some 
of  the  ravines  nearest,  and  expect  to  find  some  treasurers 
"new  and  old."  Over  the  Pennsylvania  part  of  the  way 
here  the  road  leads  through  a  region  somewhat  noted  as  the 
scene  of  operations  of  Joe  Smith,  the  Mormon  prophet 
and  leader,  and  there  are  still  living  a  few  old  people  who 
remember  him  well.  He  married  his  first  wife  here,  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  Hale,  and  she  is  still  spoken  of  as  "poor, 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  145 

deluded  Emma/'  in  the  region.  I  have  had  access  to  the 
records  of  his  operations,  which  it  appears  were  somewhat 
varied.  .  In  1818  he  was  engaged  in  lumbering;  in  1825, 
having  obtained  his  "seeing  stone,"  he  for  some  time 
directed  "diggings"  for  hidden  treasures,  which  he  saw 
in  a  certain  place.  I  have  before  me  a  diagram  of  the 
"holes"  made  under  his  direction,  five  in  number,  the 
largest  150  feet  in  circumference,  and  20  feet  deep.  The 
holes  are  more  or  less  filled  up,  but  still  distinctly  traced. 
He  induced  several  men  of  means  and  of  some  intelligence 
to  work  under  his  direction,  but  the  treasure  ever  eluded 
them,  through  some  enchantment  that  he  was  not  able 
to  control. 

He  left  here  and  went  to  Palmyra,  New  York,  for  a  few 
years,  but  returned  here  in  1830  or  1831,  with  the  "wonder- 
ful plates"  from  which  the  Mormon  Bible  was  translated; 
he  is  still  duping  persons  to  engage  in  his  service.  After 
he  went  to  Ohio,  his  father-in-law  received  a  letter  of  in- 
quiry concerning  his  character  and  operations.  I  have 
been  reading  the  reply  "published  in  the  "History  of  Sus- 
quehanna County,"  in  which  statements  are  made  that 
ought  to  have  convinced  anybody  of  his  baseness  and 
utter  untrustworthiness  of  anything  he  might  say,  and  to 
this  letter  was  appended  the  testimony  of  two  judges  of 
the  county  and  other  reliable  men,  that  Mr.  Hale's  state- 
ment might  be  relied  on  as  truth.  But  it  seems  that  his 
adherents  in  Ohio  declared  them  false,  and  said  that  his 
father-in-law  was  blind  and  could  not  write,  etc.,  so  he 
went  on  with  his  impostures  till  the  result  has  reached 
the  gigantic  proportions  of  the  present  system  of  Mor- 
monism. 

I  find  this  statement  in  the  history  alluded  to:  "It  is 
a  fact  of  which  this  country  is  not  particularly  proud,  that 
it  once  harbored  for  a  time  such  a  character,"  etc.        Y. 


146  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

NEENAH 

NEENAH  BIBLE  CLASS 

In  an  old  commonplace  book,  in  which  Mrs.  Tracy  was 
wont  to  copy  thoughts  which  interested  her,  was  found  a 
list  of  her  Bible  class  in  Neenah. 

Emma  Kimberley*  Elizabeth  Jones* 

Kate  Wintersf  Sarah  J.  Eaton* 

Libbie  Nelson}  Fannie  Allen| 

Harriet  Huxley  Mary  Hyde} 

Mary  E.  Williams  Julia  Hibbardf 

Hannah  Scott*  Maria  Walker* 

Maria  Crane*  Elizabeth  Walker} 

Mary  Green*  Caroline  Paddock* 

Caroline  Holbrook*  Elsie  Slingerland* 

Ruth  Holbrook  Orinda  Woodf 

Ida  Montgomery*  Jose  Woodf 

Clara  Martin*  Eliza  McGregor} 

Lucy  Jones*  Mary  J.  Sherry} 

Jane  Jonesf  Emma  C.  Hodges} 

Below  the  list  were  the  following  significant  marks : 

*  Became  Christians  while  members  of  the  class, 
t  Professors  before  entering  the  class. 
}  Unconverted  or  doubtful. 


ANECDOTES   OF   MRS.   TRACY 

Dear  Mrs.  Merrell: 

It  was  the  day  before  I  left  Ripon,  in  the  summer  of 
1902,  that  in  conversation  with  Mrs.  Tracy  I  quoted  a  few 
words  from  the  nineteenth  Psalm.  Immediately  she 
responded,  "I  shall  repeat  that  Psalm  to-morrow  morning. 
I  always  do  when  my  friends  go  away." 

The  next  morning,  after  being  seated  at  table  (Mrs. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  147 

Tracy,  Bertha,  and  I),  all  bowed  our  heads  and  closed  our 
eyes  as  Mrs.  Tracy  began  that  "Prayer  of  Moses  the  Man 
of  God."  With  but  slight  hesitation  she  reached  the 
tenth  verse  and  proceeded:  "The  days  of  our  years  are 
threescore  years  and  ten:  and  if  by  reason  of  strength 
they  be  fourscore  years,  yet  is  their  strength  labor  and 
sorrow,"  —  "  'taint  so,  though,  always," —  "Who  knoweth 
the  power  of  thine  anger" —  "  Oh,  I  forgot  something  " — 
"for  it  is  soon  cut  off  and  we  fly  away  — "  "Who  know- 
eth," etc.,  through  the  remainder  of  the  chapter,  though 
with  increasing  hesitation  and  stumbling.  It  was  evident 
to  one  listener,  whose  spirit  of  devotion  was  suddenly 
changed  to  that  of  mirth  (I  say  it  with  due  respect  to  the 
occasion  and  my  adorable  friend),  that  that  little  correction 
or  revision  of  King  James's  text  caused  the  reviser  to  lose 
the  thread  of  her  discourse. 

A  few  months  later  I  narrated  the  incident  to  Mrs. 
Kendall,  formally  Preceptress  at  Ripon  College,  as  proof 
of  dear  Mrs.  Tracy's  consciousness  of  her  own  unusual 
vitality  and  enjoyment  of  life,  at  and  beyond  the  scriptural 
maximum  of  fourscore  years.  "Yes,"  responded  Mrs. 
Kendall,  "Mrs.  Tracy  wrote  me  about  it,  saying  that  she 
did  not  fail  to  take  exception  to  the  Psalmist's  pessimistic 
view  of  old  age,"  or  words  to  that  effect. 

No  allusion  was  made  to  this  when  I  was  Mrs.  Tracy's 
guest  last  summer,  but  she  repeated  another  Psalm  on  the 
morning  of  my  departure. 

With  the  hope  that  no  disrespect  for  our  dearly  loved 
friend  is  evidenced  in  this  little  tale  (you  know  there  is 
none  in  my  heart),  I  submit  it  to  your  loving  care  and  use. 

Ever  cordially, 

Eliza  D.  White. 


148  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

I  was  spending  some  weeks  with  Auntie  Tracy  in  her 
rooms  at' Middle  College.  One  evening  she  asked  me,  just 
as  she  left  for  prayer-meeting,  to  put  a  shovelful  of  coal 
on  the  fire.  I  became  engrossed  in  a  game  of  Halma  with 
Miss  Helmer,  and  completely  forgot  my  promised  service, 
until  it  was  recalled  to  me  an  hour  later  by  the  terse 
remark,  "Well,  it's  rather  cold  here,"  as  Mrs.  Tracy  en- 
tered the  room.  The  fire  in  the  big  base-burner,  which 
never  lost  its  glow  from  October  to  April,  had  completely 
gone  out.  I  covered  myself  with  dust  and  ashes,  figura- 
tively speaking,  while  Mrs.  Tracy  was  dealing  with  the  real 
ashes  and  fresh  charcoal  for  rekindling  the  fire.  I  finally 
answered  up  by  weakly  saying,  that  I  would  try  never  to 
let  such  a  thing  happen  again.  "No,"  said  Mrs.  Tracy, 
"  I  don't  think  you  will.     I  don't  think  you'll  get  a  chance." 

One  other  evening,  Mrs.  Tracy  came  to  my  door  with 
the  inquiry,  "Have  you  gone  to  bed?" 

I  answered,  "Not  yet."  "Well,"  she  responded,  "you 
might  just  as  well  said  simply,  'No.'  Of  course  if  you 
haven't  gone  to  bed  you  haven't  gone  'yet.'  Besides  I 
knew  you  hadn't  gone  to  bed  before  you  answered  me." 

Do  you  remember  the  time  when  Alice  Adams  Meyer 
came  back  and  unexpectedly  knocked  at  Mrs.  Tracy's 
door?  (I  think  Mrs.  Tracy  knew  she  was  coming,  but  did 
not  know  just  when.)  Mrs.  Meyer  was  all  aglow  with  the 
joyful  surprise  she  was  going  to  give  Mrs.  Tracy,  and 
walked  in,  in  response  to  the  customary  summons,  "Come 
in."  Mrs.  Tracy  did  not  at  first  recognize  her  —  not  indeed 
until  Mrs.  Meyer  exclaimed,  "Mrs.  Tracy,  don't  you  know 
your  girl?"  "Oh,"  said  Mrs.  Tracy,  "it's  you,  is  it? 
How's  Will  ? "  Maud  Merrell  Brown, 

November  30,  1908.  Walla  Walla,  Washington. 


CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY  149 

Chicago,  III.,  February  22,  1902. 
Dear  Mrs.  Tracy: 

I  want  to  thank  you  personally  for  the  loving  greeting 
which  you  sent  us,  and  which  Fred  Dawes  read  to  us  last 
evening  at  our  dinner.  No  name  mentioned  by  any  of  the 
speakers  received  such  prolonged  and  hearty  applause  as 
yours,  and  there  was  plainly  evident  among  us  all  a  feeling 
of  respect  and  affection  for  you,  and  of  disappointment 
that  you  could  not  be  with  us,  that  would  have  done  your 
heart  good,  I  know.  You  would  have  laughed  as  heartily 
as  any  of  us  over  the  recollections  of  college  days,  and  of 
an  incident  of  your  recitation-room  which  somehow  seemed 
as  natural  as  life  to  us. 

Mrs.  Tracy  —  What  is  a  dicotyledonous  plant  ? 

Student  —  It's  —  it's  —  it's  where  — 

Mrs.  Tracy  —  It's  not  a  place. 

Student  —  It's  —  it's  —  it's  when  — 

Mrs.  Tracy  —  It's  not  a  time. 

Student  —  I  don't  know  as  I  can  exactly  — 

Mrs.  Tracy  —  You  know  or  you  don't  know. 

Student —  But,  Mrs.  Tracy,  I  haven't  had  time  to  — 

Mrs.  Tracy  —  You've  had  all  the  time  there  was. 

Student  sits  down. 

There  was  a  time  when  that  sort  of  an  experience  used 
to  cut  us  up  rather  badly,  but  we  long  ago  learned  that  the 
trenchant  rebuke  was  for  our  own  good,  and  that  the  one 
who  administered  it  was  one  of  the  noblest,  most  self- 
sacrificing,  most  helpful  friends  that  God  could  have  given 
us  for  our  early  guidance.  And  so  all  love  you  and  say 
God  bless  you  —  as  indeed  He  has  blessed  your  influence 
on  so  many  lives. 

Sincerely  and  respectfully  yours, 

C.  P.  Coffin. 


15  0  CLARISSA   TUCKER   TRACY 

Mrs.  Tracy  was  quick  at  repartee,  and  always  had  an 
answer  ready.  An  unwary  professor  at  the  breakfast 
table  once  asked  for  half  a  cup  of  coffee.  When  Mrs.  Tracy 
handed  him  a  full  cup  of  coffee  in  return,  he  protested, 
saying  that  he  asked  for  only  half  a  cup.  "Yes,  but  you 
did  not  say  which  half." 

At  the  wedding  of  one  of  her  girls,  a  graduate  of  Ripon 
College,  she  congratulated  the  groom  very  heartily.  But 
as  he  was  an  entire  stranger  to  her,  she  tempered  her  con- 
gratulations to  the  bride  as  follows,  remarking,  "  It  remains 
to  be  seen  whether  I  can  congratulate  you,  or  not." 

A  young  teacher  in  the  College  kept  her  class  over  time 
thus  encroaching  upon  the  time  of  Mrs.  Tracy's  class, 
which  recited  next  in  the  same  room.  The  young  lady 
apologized  graciously,  saying  that  she  was  anxious  to  have 
her  class  use  every  moment  of  the  hour.  Mrs.  Tracy's 
abrupt,  curt,  "So  do  I  mine,"  was  a  most  effective  and 
salutary  reproof. 


V-..  ■■■. 

V  ■ 


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